We have heard it time and again: "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Yet, for many people changing directions is not easy. In an open and calm sea, there is no trouble. If there is a reward for making a change, most will usually try to alter their ways. But to attempt to change my may of being ... that can be a genuine challenge.If genuine dislike or hatred exits between yourself and another person, what do these words of Jesus mean to you? Do they have any power in your heart? Probably not. It is easy to make excuses as to why a change cannot be made.
What Jesus is asking us to do is to be willing to change, to be willing to put aside our our pride. This is not easy. The seeds of mistrust have deep roots. If we don't have the willingness to rid our lives of the destructive way of living, our lives will always have that miserable corner of existence. Yet, when we seriously take on the effort to remove the separation that our mistrust may have created, we will encounter God.
