Christianity revolves around the supernatural.
At the weekly Bible study that I attend, we have been talking about the Gospel of Matthew. This week we were talking about the, “eye for an eye” and the “love your enemies,” part found in chapter five. I don’t know about you, but I have always found those verses a little tough to swallow.
Is it truly possible to love those who want to harm us? We can try. One of the ladies in our study pointed out that when we fail, we can just keep on trying. But, is that enough? Can we succeed in loving the unloveable by sheer human grit and determination alone?
I don’t think it’s humanly possible. Forgiveness is not in our nature. Thankfulness is not in our nature. Humility is not in our nature. Selflessness is not in our nature. If you don’t believe me, casually observe any two-year-old child. Me, my, and mine are their battle cry. If we look around, we will find many adults aren’t much different.
But, my pastor tossed out a phrase that really stayed with me. “It’s not natural, but supernatural to walk differently.”
Isn’t that at the heart of what we believe?
While revenge may be our natural tendency, we are able and called as Christians, to tap into the supernatural. Jesus said that, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
So, if we truly want to practice forgiveness, love and thankfulness, then we have to more than strive. We have to pray. We have to read the Bible. Those are the practices that allow us access to the supernatural. Those are the practices that set us apart.
We won’t always get it right, but when we walk with Jesus, we ask for forgiveness and we get back up and continue on a little stronger and wiser and a little more at peace. The beauty of our faith journey is that we never finish on this side of Heaven, but we get to draw a little closer to Jesus with each step along the way.
That thought gives me a lot of hope. Maybe you needed some today too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂