You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
—Matthew 5:43-48
There’s an older country song that I heard again a couple of days ago called “I’ve Been Watching You” which tells the story of a little boy and his father. In one scene, the four-year-old utters a four-letter word, and when his dad asks where he learned to talk like that he responds: “I’ve been watching you. Dad, ain’t that cool… I want to be like you.” The father is convicted and asks the Lord to help his stupid self. Later, the little boy crawls out of his bed in the glow of his Scooby Doo night light and “talks to God like he’s talking to a friend.” When asked where/why/how he came to do that, he tells his dad, “I’ve been watching you. I want to be like you.”
I am programmed to love my neighbor and hate my enemy. I want to be kind to only my brothers and sisters. Isn’t that the way of the world? But my Father is a Heavenly Father. And God’s ways are wonderfully different.
“But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous… Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Do I want to be like my Father? Do I want to grow into the likeness of the One who created me? Do I want to function the way I was made to be? Then I can start by praying for those who are not kind to me. Why? God makes the sun rise on the evil and the good and sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Maybe I can see them more like God sees them. At least I can ask God to help rather than curse them. I’ll watch God, and try to be like God too…
Prayer
God, let me listen to your word, and talk to you like I’m talking to a friend. Let me be more like you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.