We are all created equal, through Him.

You know the phrase keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer.  That phrase is said often and usually means to keep your eyes on the person who is out to get you, or who you think is out to get you.   We think this is the way we need to live to watch out for ourselves to keep safe and aware of the evil that may be coming against us. 

What if that phrase is correct but for very different reasons?

What if we are to keep our friends close but our enemies closer to show them God, instead of showing them contempt?

In Matthew 5:43-45 we see exactly what we are supposed to do with our enemies and how we are to treat them.

5:43 You have heard that it was said; You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  (44) But I tell you , Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  (45) To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers (alike).

We know that there are always going to be people who don’t like us, who despise us for one thing or another, and it is up to us to show them the love of God, anyway.    As we see in 43-45 We are to love our neighbors but you are to love your enemies as well.  We are called to not persecute our enemies or to seek revenge on the people who have hurt us, but we are called to pray for them.  God has asked that we not only love them but that we pray for them and not cast them out of our lives. 

To me verse 45 is showing that we are all equal and that what one person experiences we all experience.  We may not have the same story or outcome but we all have experiences in our lives of people who have hurt us, abandoned us, shamed us, or lied to us.  We have all had bad interactions with someone over the course of our lives and God is showing us that this will happen to all of us, just as the sun will rise on the wicked, and on the good, and the rain falls on the wicked and the upright.   We are all equal in the eyes of God and so we should be treating each other equally.

There is no one that is better than the other, or worse than the other.  There is no one that is loved more by God or who is cast away by God, we are all given the same amount of love from God, it just depends on how you receive it. 

If we choose to not receive the love of God we are truly walking alone in this life.  There is a deeper connection that is not being met on our end, and sometimes this can cause us to treat other people poorly.  You know Hurting people, hurt people.  This is also a very true phrase.

When you are hurting or miserable in your life, most people will seek out other people who are in the same situation or emotional state as they are.  They feel comforted by the fact that they are not alone in their despair.   Most of the time when you are feeling a sadness, you don’t want to be around the happiest person you know.  You usually, want to find someone who understands your pain, someone to validate how you are feeling.  

When we do this we need to be very mindful and careful that we are not allowing the other person to either take on our pain and burden, but also to not keep them locked in their own misery.   As Christians we need to raise up one another, and not keep each other stagnate in a season of life.

We all have bad things that happen to us, and we have all done bad things to another person.  We can’t chose who is going to hurt us but we can chose how we are going to handle it.  We can decide that we are going to forgive the person for the pain they have caused us, and know that they are causing pain to the people around them, because they are in pain, and pray for them.

We can pull them closer into our lives and help minister to them the perfect love of God, or we can do what our flesh wants us to do, and seek revenge, or alienate them from our lives.  What good is either of those things going to do for you, them or for the kingdom of God?

It is our responsibility to be a beacon of light to those around us, and to let God shine through us in every situation, when we cast away people, which we know Jesus did not do, we are not being a beacon of light, we are not showing them God, we are more than likely, reinforcing every thought they already had.   We can rise above the situation and allow God to work through us to minister to the hurting person or people around us.

Let’s try to be mindful when we are amongst people in the world, whether they are family, believers, non-believers or complete strangers to show them God.  To be the salt and light in a dark world, and allow them to see the goodness that can happen, even in a very bleak time. 

This is a very difficult task, I know, I fail at it almost daily, but if we continue to try and continue to open ourselves up in a way that allows God to work through us, it can be accomplished.  God would not have put it in His word, if it wasn’t possible for us to do, through Him.

Have an attitude of love with everyone you meet, including yourself.  Walk with the confidence and reassurance of God’s love and favor on your life and it will be easier for you to then give away, what you already have.

Imagine the good you could do instead of repaying someone evil with evil if you took a moment, to pray for that person, and ask God to help you, help them!  Don’t you think we would see a different world, if we were to actually adopt the instructions God has given to us!