Today I was pondering Jesus’ words when he said, “Bless those who curse you”. I have often thought of the sentiment behind the verse as meaning that we should pray for those who do hurtful things to us and speak hurtful things about us.

But today it struck me a different way. 

Jesus’ instructions are always taking us the extra mile. They are always getting us past that “comfortable religious ritual” into the uncomfortable “death to self, but alive in Christ” heart attitude. It’s not the hardest thing ever to pray for someone who has hurt you. Yes, it can take some overcoming, but we can slide into it without too much depth of struggle or thought.

“Lord, please bless _______”, we might mumble. “Please rescue them from their [*insert sin here*].” There. We did it.

But today I realized, Jesus is presenting us with two overt expressions of feeling here. 

When someone curses you, they don’t just sit on their beds at home, mumbling under their breath. Well, maybe they do…but that’s not usually the full measure of it.

No, no, no.

They’ll yell in your face. They’ll barrage you with text, emails, letters, phone calls (sometimes even face-to-face….though this is super rare, because it takes courage) full of their hate. They’ll find people to tell about how awful you are. It doesn’t matter if these people have any idea what is going on or not…or if they even know you – but they WILL know about what a terrible person you are.

So, in the same way, God calls us to actively BLESS those same people. “They will know we are Christians by our love.” 

We aren’t called to sit mumbling on our bed. We are called to be up, actively looking for ways to speak well of these people to those around us. We are called to think the best of them and their intentions, and look for ways to pour care and real love upon them. This is the way of God’s world. This is the way of Jesus Himself.

As I stopped again to think about this, as the morning went on, I realized this very thing is what Jesus Himself has done. He doesn’t ask us to do the impossible. He has shown us that the impossible IS POSSIBLE, as we walk in the Spirit.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

In the midst of the cruelest hate and unfair accusations, Jesus speaks well of those surrounding Him like dogs to devour Him. He doesn’t ask for fire from heaven to consume them for their sins. He doesn’t ask for God to discipline them. No…as He hangs on the cross – the most tortuous and embarrassing death you can imagine – He pleads with the Father for their forgiveness. 

And likewise, He was there on that very cross for millions to come after who, like those standing there in the flesh, mocked Him, spoke ill of Him, and who would break His good laws day after day after day without remorse or care.

And why?

So He could heap blessing upon us! He suffered and died so that He could look for ways to bless us, so that He could intercede before the Father on our behalf – to speak well of us before the Throne of God, even when we fail. Jesus died, and rose in power and glory so that He could call us Sons and Daughters, and lead our wandering, sinful hearts out of the mire and into newness, and cleanness and beauty and joy and LIFE!

When we fail, and break His heart, He comes before the Father and says, “That is my child. Have mercy, Father.”

Can we not now “go and do likewise”?

We joined an amazing church in Deerfield Beach, FL for their Wednesday night meeting, during which we read through the 4th chapter of Ephesians together. It is always so neat to see how God can so easily instruct us when we do nothing more than sitting down to purposefully put aside all our other plans and distractions and just read His Word.

As we read, I just had some neat thoughts, which I thought was a good opportunity to to write a blog post, after being a bit negligent (and BUSY) this past year!

I love how, throughout this chapter of Ephesians, Paul emphasizes in several different ways the reality that we were not created to be loners; we are all parts of the same body, and must work together, and think of the other members before we think of ourselves.

One part of a verse really stuck out to me the most, which says, “….for we are members of one another.” (v.25b)

Members of one another. This should mean several things to us.

1.) We belong to each other. We aren’t here to further ourselves and our own passions. We are here to support the body in its entirety in its mission to rescue the lost, and share the greatness of Jesus with the world! We must not be looking at ourselves and our mission, thinking, “Who is going to come support me? Because what I am doing is obviously the most important.” No – we are called to assess our giftings (which Paul also touches on in vs. 11) and abilities (sometimes this means nothing more than a pair of willing hands, and a good attitude) and look around us and think, “How can I lift up those around me who are serving the Lord? How can I support this pastor, and make him more successful in his ministry? How can I make myself more available to advance the work of the Lord in this area? Who is struggling in their service to the Lord, and needs encouragement today?” We need to make ourselves available for the needs of the other members of this body of Christ. Our lives are not our own. And when we make ourselves available for the use and support of the rest of the body, we are serving the Lord. And, if you happen to be one of those who does have a position that is seen as “higher”by others, these positions are never given to us because we are awesome, or so we can promote our own plans, or show people how amazing we are. These positions in higher spots are given to us so we can pull others up, as the header photo for this post depicts so well. It is not so we can be the most important person around, or the closest person to Jesus, but so we can draw those around us up higher, and then lift them up to be higher than ourselves.

2.) Also, this reminds us that we have to be together to “work”. It can be tempting, when you don’t get along with someone, to say, “I’m outta here! I’m going to go out and start my own ministry somewhere, because I just want to be on my own now.” Or, “I’m going to go work with someone else who has the same gifting as me. They’ll understand me better!” But as Paul admonishes here, we NEED each other. Where would we be with only prophets in the church? Where would we be without them, and the admonitions they give, or the vision they cast? Where would we be with only evangelists, and no one to shepherd the young lambs, or protect them from harm? Each one of us has a job we have been called to do, but not one is more important than the other! Without each gifting that God has bestowed, there is a distinct hole. Yes, often God calls people to go out and become missionaries on their own, blazing new paths as they seek out the lost….but His Body — the ones who are called by their name, and have taken hold of His salvation — needs all its members to continue on, and to thrive, and learn to truly walk in step with our Shepherd King. God made us to need each other, the same way a husband and wife need each other, and compliment each other; one family, but different members with different roles that work together to make something beautiful and sacred.

Ah, this beautiful, messy, imperfect family….yes, this is the Body of Christ….and we are being built up into a spotless Bride for the King! Hallelujah! Lets keep pulling, lifting, and otherwise encouraging each other to attain this high and beautiful calling!

“I need some ‘me time’.” How often do we joke about this? I know for my own family, if we are about to go take a nap, sometimes we tease and say “I just…*sniff*…need some ME time right now, okay?” Yet, there is a tiny little part of us that actually means it. As a Western culture, we love our “down time”. We protect our vacation times, and are always looking for a chance to “get away from it all”–even if it means closing ourselves in our rooms.

I am a quiet person, so I sometimes love being alone in the quiet, just resting. Yet, so often I find myself getting aggravated when people interrupt my time. My little sister, because we share a room, often felt the brunt of it. Not necessarily outright agitation, but my attention would be reluctantly turned to her instead of being eager to love her 24/7. I was frustrated at people, frustrated at myself, and just…frustrated! Then, the Lord walked me through the gospel of Mark.

“Seeing the large crowds, He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.”
~Mark 6:34

Jesus was 100% God, but in the form of man. He had physical needs just as we have physical needs. He frequently went away “to a quiet place” to pray, or called His disciples away to rest (Mk. 6:31). But at the same time, even from the beginning of His ministry, He was completely swarmed with crowds. No matter the place or even time of day, He would find Himself surrounded again by crowds (Mt. 1:35, 3:7,20). There were times He was not even able to eat because there were so many people, desperate for His healing hand (Mark 3:20).

Can you imagine the physical AND spiritual pull of always being needed and always being asked questions? And yet, Jesus turned no man away who needed Him. “Seeing the crowds, He felt compassion on them”, and went to them. He did not roll His eyes or sigh because He was trying to have some “me time”. Instead, His heart was stirred to mercy. His humble spirit longed to comfort the poor, the widows, the outcasts, and the children abandoned by all. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” was the heart of Christ (John 6:38). Even when He was tired, He truly knew that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

Seek to serve others, my friends. Ask the Lord for strength (physical and spiritual) to pour yourself out, even if it means cutting into your “me” time. Do not be so protective of your down time that you miss out on the sweetness of ministering to those around you–especially your family; God has placed you in your family for a reason! Rely on the Father for help and you will see the blossoming fruit spring forth from your labor. May we seek to serve, just as He came to serve us!

By Anna Faith