Pray for Who?
All throughout Jesus’ ministry, He constantly turned things upside down for those listening. The religious leaders at the time had grown distant from following the laws of God. Jesus’ teaching helped bring them back to the heart of the law, but He often did so through surprising ways.
Most of us probably think we do a great job at loving other people. But if we’re being honest, most of us probably spend our time loving those who also love us back. It’s a lot easier to love the people who we’re friends with. When there’s trust built over time and common ground, it’s easy to love.
Jesus says that loving those who love you is not enough. In Luke 6:28, He challenges us to bless those who speak negatively about us, and to pray for those who mistreat us.
If you’ve ever been mistreated by someone, or had someone speak negatively about you, then you know how hard it can be to love that person. It is hard to love unloving people. And yet, Jesus did exactly that. When we were...
“And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.”
Matthew 22:1-4 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.22.1-4.KJV