Day 7: Frenemies...

Frenemies - it's a new word.  Friends you are supposed to love to hate.  Or enemies you pretend to be friends with.  You may have some of these on your list...

It is a lot easier to love the people who are easy to love.  People who are like us.  People who understand us, accept us, respond as we expect them to and even make us feel good about ourselves.  People who love us back.  But Jesus didn't tell us it is ok just to love the lovely people.  He wasn't even slightly vague about it.

"You have heard the law that says 'love your neighbour' and hate your enemy.  But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!"  (Matthew 5:43).

We might not know persecution as some Christians do - but we do know frenemies.  And we are called to love them.  Love them well this Lent.  You will need God's help to do so, as we saw yesterday, but you can do it.  And you need to do it, because He told us to.  Let the words of Jesus from Matthew 5 speak to you today:

You have heard the law that says, 'love your neighbour' and hate your enemy.  But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.  For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.  If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?  Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.  If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?  Even pagans do that.  But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

For the kids:
Think of people it is easy to love.  Think of people it is hard to love.  Do you think it is ok to just love the people on your first list?  Let's see what Jesus said about this...

He said: "You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbour' and hate your enemy.  But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!"  Matthew 5:43.  Do you think this will be easy or hard to do?  Pray together that Jesus would help you as you seek to love the people who are not as nice to you and spend time specifically praying for people who are hard to love.