We Christians, we are called to be different. What does that mean? Well, it means we should be different than this world wants us to be. This world will teach us that we should fight with our enemies, stay away from those who are different, avoid those who don’t like us, fight with those who mistreated us, and always fight for what is yours. And this is easy. Most of us react that way even though not fully realizing it. If someone mistreated you, or if you don’t like someone, you simply stay away from that person, or even seek revenge for what that person did to you. Well, Jesus wants us to be different. Jesus wants you to love your enemy and to pray for those who persecute you. And this is a real challenge. Let’s have a little exercise. Think for a moment about a person that you don’t like (not to say hate), or someone who hurt you. It may be a family member, a coworker, a neighbor, or someone in the government. Now, say a prayer for that person - not easy right? It is extremely difficult to pray for those who mistreated us, and even more difficult to forgive them. However, this is the only way if we want to be called Christians. We must be different than this world because: “if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?”
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