So You Wanna Follow Christ?

  I was in Sunday School this week like every good Christian boy should be when the gravity of Jesus' teaching about loving your enemies slapped me harder than .44 slug. I had heard that phrase from Luke 6 so many times, I had become calloused. Love your enemies? That sounds like it would be easy to do right? Just tell yourself that you love them and rock on. But I have not loved my enemies.
  As we established before, love is a verb. When you love someone you are doing something. Just a recap; some of the things love does and doesn't do are found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

  Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  (NKJV)

   So we're expected to do and be these things for our ENEMIES. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time being these things to people I like, let alone my enemies, the people that are against me!
  You are probably nodding along with me, saying, "Yeah, Jesus said that." Do you realize what Jesus is saying?! If some punk stole your iPod, what would you do? Would you press charges? Would you just get it back and tell him he's lucky you're not pressing charges? Would you get it, tell him Jesus loves him, and send him off, telling him you're praying for him? That's better than I could do! In this situation, Jesus would want you to either let him keep the iPod, or buy him a new one! Isn't that radical?! This is the Christian lifestyle my friend. This is what you and I are supposed to do.
  Jesus tells us to give our money away. He tells us to give it to people when they want to borrow it. I have brothers and sisters, and they sometimes (ok, barely ever) ask to borrow $20 or something. How awesome would it be to just give it to them? Wouldn't that show love in a really tangible way?
  And let me ask you a personal question. Do you need all the money you have? Do you really need to set aside money to go to movies, or to go out to eat? Now I'm totally not against fun, but is your fun more important to you than what could be the difference between someones eternal damnation or salvation? Now of course I believe God gives joy to his people who obey him. Who says giving money away can't be fun? You can do it in some crazy, awesome way, like buying ribs for the guys at Harley Davidson if they let you share the gospel with them in exchange. Be creative for Jesus, Man! God will bless you for it! If not here on earth, it'll be in heaven.
  Now on the topic of turning the other cheek, that can be applied against human nature a lot of ways. From the physical, to the spiritual and intellectual, cheek-turning is outrageous. Who of you has ever had the urge to be quiet when someone insults you? Raise your hand if you pray for someone out of instinct when they're a first-class jerk to you. If you have urges and instincts like that, I have a psychiatrist friend I can refer you to. Jesus tells us to go against human instinct by turning the other cheek and praying for those who persecute you. These are not the ways of this world! This is earth shaking!
  I haven't even begun to master this yet. But I'm gonna give it my best shot. How 'bout you?