Monday Devo
Scripture Reading:
Luke 6:27-28
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
Commentary from the ESV Study Bible:
6:27–36 Love Your Enemies. Resuming the theme of his disciples being hated (v. 22), Jesus gives several examples of what it means to love your enemies.
6:28 For blessing those who curse you, see 1 Cor. 4:12. For examples of praying for one’s abusers, cf. Luke 23:34; Acts 7:59–60. The ability to bless those who do this depends on confident trust in God’s care and sovereign direction of the events of life.
6:28 For blessing those who curse you, see 1 Cor. 4:12. For examples of praying for one’s abusers, cf. Luke 23:34; Acts 7:59–60. The ability to bless those who do this depends on confident trust in God’s care and sovereign direction of the events of life.
Study Questions:
- Jesus is giving a picture here of true, gospel-centered love. He's raising the bar for love. We all have people in our lives, friends or family, that are just difficult to love. This is backwards thinking to us, another piece of God's upside-down Kingdom. The first point on Sunday was, "Real love is rooted in the sovereignty of God." Real love means we don't retaliate against people that hurt us. Instead we submit to God and respond to his sovereignty. This is the only way we can love people unconditionally. This is the only way we can love and bless and serve our enemy, the only way we can turn the other cheek or take care of them when they are in need. We have to trust God first. How does this look, practically speaking. In your own words, what does trust in God have to do with loving our enemies?
- "For those who are willing to listen." Jesus is giving us a heads up that this kind of truth is going to be HARD to hear. It's not easy. Have you ever noticed that the things we need to hear the most are often extremely hard to hear? In today's culture it seems that the only thing people care about is their own perception about things. They only care about their truth and their feelings and making sure they are validated and accepted. So when they are confronted with ACTUAL truth, the response is typically to take offense and lash out. How do you respond when you are confronted with truth or when you might be wrong about something? Do you get defensive? Lash out? Explain away? And if you want the TRUTH to those questions, ask someone who knows you well. Also, ask God if you are slow to receive HIS truth.
Pray:
- That you would learn to love your enemies.
- That you would be open to truth in your life, even if it hurts.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit this one to memory this week!
4. Can a person be good enough to go to heaven? No. Because Jesus rose from the dead proving He is God, I believe a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
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