https://odb.org/2024/11/11/loving-the-enemy
My local church just had a family retreat, and the teaching was on the Kingdom of God and what it means and how we can have a Kingdom mindset in all that we do. We act and think Kingdom. It’s an attitude that puts God first in our daily lives and spiritual walk. We don’t commit sin and then use grace to get forgiveness. When no one sees, we still honour God because He sees. Our spiritual life is genuine and sincere. It’s not a performance for people to see. Our death is not the finish line as we have a legacy and a testimony to safeguard that will extend into future generations. In everything that we do, we think Kingdom and that is long term. If we put the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first, all the other things will be added unto us. We don’t need to incur unnecessary stress to “succeed” in life. Just obey and follow Jesus and focus on the Kingdom, God will take care of the rest.
This brings us to the topic for this morning. Are we able to forgive and love those who mock, insult, and bully us? Jesus did so on the way to the Cross. The guards and those around them mocked and insulted Him, yet He asked the Father to forgive them for they knew not what they were doing. They humiliated Jesus when they crucified Him among hardened criminals and drew lots for His clothes. Yet Jesus forgave them. He was not distracted from His mission to save mankind. You may read this in Luke 22 and 23. At the start of His ministry, Jesus was also not distracted by the temptations of the devil despite being extremely hungry after fasting for 40 days. He stayed focused on his ministry and calling. Jesus was Kingdom minded. If we are like Jesus, if we are Kingdom-minded, forgiving those who insult, mock, or bully us is actually quite trivial. We have more important things in life to think and care about.
In life, we can not avoid skirmishes with others. There will be those who insult us, who ignore or who are rude to us. There will be others who are prejudiced towards us, who are racially biased, or brand us a failure in life compared to them. We may not be the top guy in our organisation’s hierarchy or earn RM100,000 a month or have millions to our name. Our self-worth and self-esteem come from God’s love and grace towards us. God provides for us, and Jesus has prepared us a place in His Father’s heavenly mansion of many rooms. Most importantly, our names are written in the Book of Life, and we will have our reward and our place at the new heaven and new earth at the end of age. Never lose sight of our eternal destiny, always have a Kingdom mindset.
Have a great week ahead, everyone! Be Kingdom-minded all the time, in all that we do. Think, act, and live a life of Kingdom. Always ask ourselves, will God be pleased? Will our actions and reactions advance the Kingdom of God? Will we always do the right thing when no one sees but only God? Will we be like Abraham, who obeyed despite not knowing where God was actually leading? Or Moses, who went up to Mount Nebo to die, where he could see the Promised Land but was not permitted to enter despite having spent 40 years leading the Israelites to enter the land? Or could we be like Joseph, who fled temptation, although he could have rationalised his sin?
Ronnie's Thoughts 