ShowdownSample

Here, Jesus’ words feel challenging. At points, they’re almost even harsh, right? As a portion of His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was instructing His followers to love the people who are hardest to love. Essentially, He was calling us to raise the bar when it comes to love. It’s easy to do the bare minimum in our relationships. To do just enough to get by. To do the right thing by the other person and stop there. This is especially true for those in our lives who are difficult to love.

But when we stop there, we’re doing the minimum. Worse, we’re doing no more than those who don’t believe in Jesus! And if our lives are supposed to look different because of Jesus, then our love needs to look different. We have to go above and beyond to love everyone—enemies included—around us. We have to follow Jesus’ call here to do more! Talk to a friend, spouse, or small group leader this week about what it might look like for you to go above and beyond in love. Ask them to hold you accountable to taking steps to love the people in your life authentically, even those who are often hard to love.