Resemble our Father?

Genesis 15-17; Luke 6

“But love your enemies, do good to them and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Luke 6:35, 36

Our critics and those who oppose us are God’s paternity test for us. We discover through our response to them whether we look like and behave like our Father. We have other definitions of who God’s children are which usually focuses on what they believe or confess. Jesus goes deeper into the attitudes of our heart and how we respond to our enemies when defining whether we are children of the Most High or not. Our Father is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Our Father is merciful. To be full of mercy might look weak in the eyes of the community; but, in the eyes of our Father, mercy expresses a strength of love which can only come from our Father. Not only do these qualities of love for our enemies, critics, and those who hurt us reflect God’s character, but they also will be greatly rewarded by our Father.

Do we resemble our Father?

“Lord God, you are Most High, and I can trust your justice and love to be enough, for your glory.”