Family Resemblance

Theme

As we pray this week, we are preparing our hearts to respond to our Father by living lives as children of God

Scriptures

Ephesians 4:1-6: As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Matthew 5:43-48: You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Reflect

I don’t know about you, but I definitely thought my father was perfect when I was a little

girl. He was smart, strong, kind, loving, handsome, fun, playful, funny, sacrificial, and generous. I hoped to be just like him when I grew up. I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but eventually I found out my father was not, in fact, perfect. He could hurt my feelings, or overreact, or be impatient just like every other person on this planet.  My father is still a wonderful man, one who points me to my Heavenly father, but he is by no means perfect.

That call to us in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is

perfect”; sounds so impossible that I have definitely brushed it off more than once upon reading it. “God knows I am imperfect, and I can’t be perfect because I’m not Jesus, so why even bother??” Why bother? Well, for one thing, Jesus commands it. For another, “perfect” in this

context does not mean “without flaw”, like I always assume it does. Instead, it means

“complete” (as seen in 1 John 4:18) or “mature” (as seen in 1 Corinthians 14:20). (https://bibleproject.com/videos/vocab-insight-teleios-whole/)

In this passage in Matthew, Jesus is summing up the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount as well as the counter-cultural arguments he makes in the rest of chapter 5: the Father is complete in His love, and we should be complete in our love also.

“But how do I do that?” you might find yourself wondering. By loving your enemies like

Matthew 5 and loving the body of Christ like Ephesians 4. Don’t worry, the following prayers will help you with asking God for guidance!

Pray

Even if you think neither of the below options apply to you, you are encouraged to pray

them anyway - see what God turns up in your heart that maybe you weren’t aware of (or

maybe something completely unrelated). 

Whatever the case, invite God to search your heart (Psalm 139:23-24)!

Option 1: Ask God to bring to mind anyone that you are not in a good state of relationship with - friend, family, co-worker, neighbor, anyone. Spend time praying about anything you have done wrong in the situation: have you held a grudge? Have you said bad things/gossipped about the person? Have you said unkind things in your heart, even if not out loud? Ask for God’s forgiveness, and receive His grace! Now, spend time praying about how you can extend love to that person, whether or not they extend love back to you (Romans 12:18). 

Jesus was all about flipping expectations on their head, and loving your enemies is not just a nice thing to do, but a seriously radical way to live. (https://bibleproject.com/guides/oaths-retaliation-and-enemy-love/)

He never promised it would be easy, but he does call us to do it anyway. Ask God to see that person through His eyes, and to love that person like He loves them.

Option 2: Ask God if you are living a life that is worthy.  Are you humble and gentle? Are you patient, bearing with others in love? Have you made every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace? Unity and peace do not happen by accident, but rather communal work and commitment. Have you done everything in your power to live in unity and peace with your

brothers and sisters in Christ? Maybe this particular question will lead you back to the first prayer above, or simply to forgive an old wound and move on for good this time, striving toward peace. Ask God to examine your heart and see where you fall short of completeness, where you need to be more like your Father, and then ask Him to work in you to make you complete.