Love your enemies
The 2nd Sunday in Lent
Don’t hold grudges. On the other hand, it’s wrong not to correct someone who needs correcting. ~ Leviticus 19:17 (CEV)
But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:44-45a (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
When we treat our enemies with grace instead of disdain we show that our Heavenly Father is living in us.
PRAYER:
Gracious Heavenly Father, I'm grateful that you welcome me into your presence -- even when I don't deserve it. I have trouble being so gracious to those around me -- especially those who are out to get me or who treat me poorly. Grant that I might have your gracious heart pumping in me. My first response to bad people will be to look for ways to love my enemies. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2015 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
