Love for Enemies

    ²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.²⁹ If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you. 

   ³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

At Fellowship Bible on Sunday, we studied Luke 6: 27-36. I can remember learning about this passage when I was in elementary school, but those were the days where our biggest worries were centered around who ate the most gummy bears at lunch time and who knew how to color inside the lines. Years later, I am brought back to this passage, and for the very first time I am hoping to live in accordance to this scripture. 

I can't tell you the last time I "did good to those who hate me", possibly because I've never attempted to live my life in such a manner. Doesn't that sound silly? Love my enemies? Bless those who curse me, and pray for those who mistreat me? I don't consider myself a mean person, but I'm not quick to bless people who hurt my feelings. I've got it all wrong. As Christians, we are called to love those that do us wrong. How great is our God that he wants us to love one another even in the midst of anger, confusion, and hurt.

The infamous golden rule lies within the pages of the Bible, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." So, this is my promise to myself and to the world, I will no longer curse my enemies, but I will begin to love them, pray for them, and seek a righteous relationship with them. I will no longer spend hours upon hours with a broken heart because of hurtful actions, but I will instead pray for my brothers and sisters and above all do good to them.

As Luke writes, our reward for living this way is far greater than any other reward in the universe.

"At the end of the day faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don't really expect it. Its like one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed. The castle, well, it may not be a castle. And its not so important happy ever after, just that its happy right now. See once in a while, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you , and once in a while people may even take your breath away."

-Meredith Grey

Oh glorious day.

On Sunday I made the most important decision I have made thus far in my life- I publicly committed my life to Christ by getting baptized. Everything about this day was absolutely perfect. I was surrounded by my greatest friends in the world, and I could not have asked for more love and encouragement.

When I first started to pray about this day and how exactly I should go about it, I had no idea who was going to actually baptize me. After a few days of prayer, the answer came to me loud and clear. What better person to baptize me than the person that has had the biggest spiritual impact on my life- Cali. Cali, who was my young life leader in high school, is one of my closest friends in the entire world. Her love and support overwhelms my heart, brings me close to her and even closer to Christ.

My relationship with Christ would not be as strong as it is today without Cali's guidance and teaching. She was the first person that truly showed me the gift of salvation and for that I am forever thankful. I feel so blessed to have experienced this wonderful day with Cali; it was a day I will never forget.

I decided to keep my actual baptism private, but asked my wonderful friends to join me after in celebration. I was so excited to enjoy a meal with everyone and to praise God for an amazing day. My friends went above and beyond, and I feel like such a lucky girl. I could never say thank you enough to all the people that made my baptism a very special day for me. Good is so good; yesterday was a fabulous celebration of my love for Christ. It's been a long time coming, but I'm proud to say that I am officially a daughter of our awesome King! I love our Savior, and I have never been so sure of anything in my entire life. Here's to my walk with Jesus!

So thankful to have Cali in my life.

My lovely roomie/bestest. Love you Bessica.

Thank you for taking great care of me, Ry.

So glad Tyler could make it. 

Pretty jewelry box from Jess; she is so creative. 

My seester is 16.

This post is a little overdue, but a wonderful thing happened two weeks ago- my little sister Bobbi turned 16! Well, little as in my younger sister, not little as in smaller than me. It's quite obvious that my sister got our dad's height, she towers over me by 8 or 9 inches. Although Bobbi is taller, stronger, and longer than me, she is still my little sissy and there is not a thing in the world that I wouldn't do for her. So although this is a little late, Happy birthday Bobbi Renee! You really are my best friend, my wonderful sister, and my better half. I love you, and wouldn't trade our relationship for the world. 

"It's hard to be responsible, adult and sensible all the time.  How good it is to have a sister whose heart is as young as your own." Pam Brown