Jesus tells us: “Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!” (Matthew 10:34-36 NLT). We must understand that the spirit of Christ can have no union on any level with the spirit of the world, for it is against everything Christ is. Even a father, while unconverted, will oppose a godly child and vice versa. Therefore the spirit that is in those who sin against God is an enemy of the spirit of Christ, who dwells in the followers of the Most High God. This makes it clear that it is the spirits that are in opposition, not the persons. Therefore you need to treat it as spiritual warfare; be sure you have your armor on as it gets intense!
Jesus is being honest with us here, that if you really follow Him – living as He tells us to – that some people are not going to like you. That could mean that even some members of your own family, or your best friend will turn against you. He is being real with us, so what do you think the Christian response should be when you come face to face with this kind of spiritual warfare? Reading what Jesus actually says in the Gospels, you will find Him telling His disciples to love their enemies and treat others with kindness even if they abuse you. Loving someone who is your enemy seems ridiculous and unreasonable when resentment and pay back are much more natural. But Jesus Christ wants you to be happy, joyful, and content. No one who feels hostility and hatred for another, harboring bitterness and hostility, can be happy. So, in Matthew 5: 44 He tells us to love our enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which threaten, insult, slander and falsely accuse you. Speak good words back to them that curse you. How is that possible? Only with the mind of Christ through His spirit which dwells within you. Doing what He directs us to do, we will resemble Him, partaking of His own Divine nature by imitating Him. He makes the sun to rise and the rain to fall on His followers and enemies alike and has no enemies which He hates but sin itself.
Are you a true follower of Christ? Who holds the highest place in your heart and mind? “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.” (Matt. 10:37) This could be said of any person you love, for those who you love the most are the ones you study most to please; preferring to do their will. You develop interests like theirs to share time and build closeness. If in order to please them, you abandon God's ways and the fellowship of His true followers, you are not worthy of the gift of eternal life with Him. You effectively throw away His gift by demoting it, abandoning it for what you value most.
God's eyes are on eternity, and they are on each of us. He wants to know our heart; what is really inside of us. When we face the seemingly impossible, Jesus Christ our intercessor is at our side, purposing to liberate our oppression, testing our heart; not to destroy it but to raise us up triumphant to live with Him eternally.
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