“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48 NLT)
So, as Christians we care called to strive to be more like Christ in our daily lives (hence where we are called to be "perfect" in verse 48, being "perfect" means to me to aspire to be as Christlike as possible while we are here on earth. To be "perfect" is achieved through our spiritual growth and maturity, and "perfect" in love, seeking to love others as completely as God loves us.) - we are called to rise above the status quo and live out our days as living and breathing examples of Christ, in all areas of our lives & with all people that we encounter. Part of our growing spiritual maturity and spiritual growth is to give up our natural selfishness (our ego's) and commit our thinking and actions to that of a Christ like spirit. This is clearly asked of us all here in verse 44 where Jesus states for us to "Love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you." Is this an easy task? Absolutely not, but through prayer and trust in our Lord, we can know that even though we may not feel love for that person we can show love to them through the working of the Holy Spirit through us.
--Kristine Melius
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John Wesley called on members of the small Methodist yo ask one another, "How is it with your soul?". They would follow up with one another on the difficulty and success in trying to conform their lives to the model of Christ.
John Wesley was not worried about reaching perfection on this life. Methodists were called to keep moving towards perfection. Wesley never claimed to have achieved perfection. He only knew of one woman that did.
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