Calvin: key to loving our enemies

Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons 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.”
    —Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Assuredly there is but one way in which to achieve what is not merely difficult but utterly against human nature: to love those who hate us, to repay their evil deeds with benefits, to return blessings for reproaches. It is that we remember not to consider men’s evil intention but to look upon the image of God in them, which cancels and effaces their transgressions, and with its beauty and dignity allures us to love and embrace them.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.vii.6, p. 625 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:44-45; 6:14; 18:35; Luke 17:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have shown us the way of love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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