A People Sacred to the Lord
Jesus tells us to be perfect as the Father is perfect. At first glance this is a tall order. How are we to be perfect? When we read a phrase like this in the Bible, our first thought is always about ourselves. We think of what I have to do as if I am the only one who has to do this. Even though being perfect as the Father is perfect is impossible because we cannot be like God, we make the error of comparing ourselves to God thinking we can become perfect like the Father.
So, what is Jesus asking us to do?
First, we are to love our enemies. But maybe you don’t love your enemies. Maybe there are other people you do not love at all. Well, we are human. And Jesus understands this and understands you. He knows there are people in your life you do not love. But that is not a condition He wants us to remain in. Rather, we need to grow in faith and trust in God that we can love our enemies.
Second, where to start. This may sound a little odd, but you start by loving your family. Yes, loving your spouse, your children, your parents. Loving others does not always come automatically. And you should admit you don’t always love your spouse, your children and your parents as you should. Sometimes you are not a loving person. And maybe they are not always loving you. Before we can truly love our enemies, we better be sure we can love our families.
If we are going to be a people sacred to the Lord, then we need to learn to love our families so that we can learn to love our enemies. This is how we start to become perfect as the Father is perfect. He loves us even when we are not so lovable.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen