“Let Love Overcome Hate!”

“Let Love Overcome Hate!”
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you. If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you…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” (Lk.6:27-36).
Hmmmm! What a tall order!
Western civilisation seems to have done more harm than good to the African continent. Back in the days the above gospel was practiced in Africa before individualism overwhelmed us through western civilisation and the monetary economy. Africans did not need Jesus to teach them this.
This passage prescribes communal welfare and also a bulwark of nonviolence advocacy.
Turning the other cheek when slapped on one cheek, surrendering your tunic to the one who has taken your cloak are not innocent actions as they seem at face value. When you turn the other cheek, another slap would be possible only by a back hand. In Jewish culture the use of a back hand was humiliating to the one who used it. On the other hand, if somebody took your cloak (outer garment) as a surety for loan or because you could not pay back a loan, Jesus says, give him the tunic (inner garment) as well. By surrendering all and remaining naked, the public did not laugh at your nakedness but they rather mocked and shamed the wickedness of the person who caused a poor person to be naked. The question is, “how are you going to feel if the same was done to you?” So you better live by the golden rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
This is why the passage is a powerful tool against violence as a means of achieving whatever. In life we attract what we radiate. If you radiate love, you attract love; even though haters will always be there. Those who sow the storm will harvest a whirlwind!
Children of God must be the differnce. Just ss God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked – which are representations of darkness – so too must we be kind to those who are ungrateful and wicked to us.
Love is the central teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. To you who hear him show some love, practice love; loving even those who hate you. Two wrongs do not make a right. Ignore the haters! It hurts and eats them like a canker when they realise that they do not affect you. Let love lead!
Weekend prayer: Lord increase my resolve to turn the other cheek. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!