Luke 6;27

Luke 6:27 says, But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,  Jesus said that to those who heard Him, that they were to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them.  This applies to us today as followers of Christ.  Verse twenty-eight adds, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.  We are to bless those who curse us and to do good to those who despitefully use us.  Yet, we too often treat them as badly as they treat us.  Verse twenty-nine continues,  And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.  Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek if someone hits us on the one cheek, but we usually say this is not to be taken literally, and the same is believed about given even more to those who take something from us.  Still, Jesus presented this not as a moral concept, but as a truth to be followed when living our life every day.  Verse thirty states, Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.  Jesus expects us to help those who ask for help, without being concerned with whether they ever repay us or not.  Verse thirty-one adds, And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.  Jesus tells us that we are to treat others as we want to be treated. This applies to all others, and not just to people that we like.  Verse thirty-two declares, For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.  Jesus asked if we love only those who love us, how does that make us any better than the lost people of the world.  Sinners in this case would be those who had not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and started to live under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Verse thirty-three adds, And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.  Jesus adds that if we only do good to those who do good to us, then we are no better than the sinners of the world.  As followers of Christ, we are called to a higher standard.  Verse thirty-four continues,  And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.  Jesus tells us that if we only lend to those that we hope to receive something more back from, again we are no better than the rest of the people of the world who are not Christians.  Verse thirty-five concludes, But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.  Jesus sums this up by saying that as followers of Christ we are to be like our heavenly Father.  If we are, our reward in heaven will be great.  God is kind to the unthankful and to the evil people of the world, reaching out to them with His unmerited grace, just as He did to us while we were yet sinners.  Verse thirty-six says, Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.  Jesus said just as our heavenly Father is merciful, we as Christians are to be merciful.  Verse thirty-seven adds, Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:  We are not to judge or condemn other people so that we will not be judged and condemned by God, and we are to forgive others because God forgave us when we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse thirty-eight continues, Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.  I believe this is another way of saying that we cannot outgive God.  If we give to others in need, God will more than provide for our needs.  If God gives to us when we give to others, then the opposite must be true, and that is that He withholds His blessings from us when we refuse to help others when we can.  Of course, I believe the Holy Spirit will guide us in all situations if we let Him.