Love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Luke 6:27
People who can love their enemies are revolutionaries. A graduate student named Jack
became such a revolutionary, in spite of himself.
One summer he asked God for a ministry. He contacted several organizations but found no
openings. Finally he had to take any job available. He ended up driving a public
transportation bus in Chicago. A street gang rode his bus every day without paying and
made threats against him. One day they dragged him off the bus and beat him unconscious.
In the hospital, Jack was bitter toward them and God. "Lord," he complained,
"I prayed for a ministry and all You gave me was this lousy job and a beating!"
Jack pressed charges, and the gang members were arrested, brought to trial, and found
guilty. But during the trial, God began replacing Jack's bitterness with compassion and
love. When the judge pronounced the sentence, Jack asked for permission to serve their
combined jail time. Stunned, the judge said, "There's no precedent for this!"
"Yes, there is," Jack replied, explaining that Jesus died on the cross for a
guilty world. Jack's request was denied, but he began visiting the young men in jail and
saw most of them come to know Christ.
When we love others in that way, it's revolutionary!
-JEY
Doing good to those who hate us,
Lord, is difficult to do;
Help us by Your grace to love them,
Praying they will turn to You.
-Sper
To love a friend is natural, to love an enemy is Christlike.