Spirit and Life Devotional is a daily publication by Pastor Chinaemerem Ibezim, senior pastor of Able Ministers Chapel, a church based in Calabar, Cross River State.
[pull_quote_center]”The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.'” John 19:7[/pull_quote_center]
John wrote concerning Jesus: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” John 1:10-11.
It’s painful not to be known by your own: imagine that you return from a journey and members of your family don’t recognize you: not only did they not know Jesus, they did not accept Him; they rejected Him, and they killed Him. That was the height of hatred.
But despite all that they did to Jesus; He healed them, fed them, chose to die for them, and right there on the cross He forgave them and prayed to God for their forgiveness. That’s love.
Jesus showed us by example that it’s possible to love those who hate us. He said to the disciples, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”Matthew 5:44-45, 48. Amen.
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