Reading: The Cross of Christ, pg. 288-296
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 sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 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, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5.43-48
“To live under the cross” means that every aspect of the Christian community’s life is shaped and colored by it. The cross not only elicits our worship (so that we enjoy a continuous, eucharistic celebration) and enables us to develop a balanced self-image (so that we learn both to understand ourselves and to give ourselves), but it also directs our conduct in relation to others, including our enemies. We are to “be imitators of God…as dearly loved children” and to “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph 5.1-2). More than that, we are to exhibit in our relationships that combination of love and justice which characterized the wisdom of God in the cross. | Stott pg.288
Our whole life is to be shaped by the cross and its self-giving. How might that make you change the way you view your enemies?
Lord, make us into men and women who love our enemies, like you taught us to. Let us not forget that we once too were your enemies, and when we see those that oppose us, let us remember the power of the cross to transform and redeem. Amen