Читать книгу Boyd's Commentary - R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation - Страница 58

How do we overcome self-interest so we can love our enemies?

Jesus was attempting to get His listeners to drop self-interest, self-protection, and self-preservation for a larger principle, that principle being love. Losing self-interest is as difficult as getting lost in love. While getting lost in love is not as simple as it appears, it is not as difficult as we often make it to be.

The key is a level of discipline that one’s principles will not waver from. It requires uncompromising integrity. Loving one’s enemies is not an esoteric or unattainable level of perfection. It is rooted in the real desire to do what is right. Jesus asks no more or less from His followers. Do right and do what is expected from you without reacting to what is done to you. Jesus taught that we have the ability to control what we do, not what happens to us or what others do. But we choose each moment, each day, and under every circumstance whether we will react or will predetermine what action will we take. Love chooses on the front end to do what is right, not what may be convenient. That is to say, love takes the initiative to set things on their proper course.

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OCTOBER 12–18, 2020