Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 5 verses 43 through 47:
43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so 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. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The hardest word to speak in the world is probably a simple "Hello" to someone we are at odds with.
The words stick not only in our mouth but in our gut. We want walk, run, fly the other way. We want to avoid. We don't want them to have the simple acknowledgment of cordiality. We don't even want them to have the acknowledgement of humanity. We also don't like the awkwardness.
But awkward as it is, they are human. And Jesus tells us we should not avoid or shun. We greet. It may not change them. It might not change the fact of estrangement. But it might just change us.
God greets the whole world with sunrise every morning -- the just and the unjust. That's mighty big of God.
A simple "Hello" ain't nearly as hard.
Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
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