First Impressions
What if becoming like God starts with how you treat one difficult person?
Some Bible verses feel like a warm welcome. Matthew 5:48 can feel like a surprise inspection. Be perfect? Most of us can name three things we got wrong before breakfast. We lost our patience, avoided a hard conversation, or replayed an argument while brushing our teeth. If Jesus is asking for a spotless record, who could possibly keep up? But before we turn that sentence into another reason to feel behind, we need to read what comes before it. Jesus has been talking about love. Specifically, he has been talking about loving people who do not love us back. His final sentence belongs to that conversation. It asks us to look at our Father and learn what his love is like. That gives us a very different place to begin.
Jesus points to something his listeners could see every day: sunlight and rain. God gives sunshine to people who thank him and people who ignore him. Rain reaches the fields of the kind farmer and the dishonest farmer. This does not mean God approves of every choice they make. It means his generosity does not wait for people to deserve it. Then Jesus brings that picture into our ordinary relationships. Loving someone who already loves us is good, but it is hardly surprising. Almost everyone does that. The question is whether our love stops at the edge of our favorite group. Can we pray for the person we wish would lose the argument? Can we treat someone fairly when they have treated us unfairly? Can we refuse to make another person's worst behavior our excuse for copying it? These are the places where the Father's family resemblance starts to show.
That may connect with something you carried home from Sunday: the tiring feeling that following Jesus means keeping yourself polished enough for God. This passage gives you something better to look at than your own reflection. Look at the Father who keeps giving. Look at Jesus, who teaches this love and later lives it toward people who reject him. You are invited to follow him into that kind of life. This is serious growth, and it will involve admitting wrong, making repairs, and trying again. But you can begin with one honest step instead of a promise to become flawless by Friday. Name one difficult person. Ask God for their good, even if your first prayer is awkward and short. Loving them does not require pretending the hurt never happened or removing a needed boundary. It means letting God's kindness shape what you choose next. Today, there is room to grow, and there is a Father worth growing to resemble.
Sit with this
- 1Who comes to mind when you hear Jesus say to love your enemies, and what might one small act of love toward them look like?
Journal prompt
Write the name or initials of one person you find difficult to love. Describe what happens inside you when you think about them. Then write a two-sentence prayer asking God for their good and for help choosing your next response.