Key Scripture: Matthew 5:43-44 (NLT)

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

Today we are going to jump into the middle of the Jesus teaching a crowd of people. 

Jesus goes on a run of “But I say”s where he literally raises the bar on behavior expectations. 

• Murder
• Adultery
• Divorce
• Vows
• Revenge

Matthew 5:43-47 (NLT)

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.

"You do not have to accept every invitation that you receive. You do not have to show up to every argument that you are invited to."

 “There is an enormous physical burden to being hurt and disappointed,”

• Chronic anger puts you into a fight-or-flight mode, which results in numerous changes in heart rate, blood pressure and immune response. Those changes, then, increase the risk of depression, heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions. 
• Forgiveness, however, calms stress levels, leading to improved health

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/healthy_aging/healthy_connections/forgiveness-your-health-depends-on-it

Booger Faces...

Numbers 11:15 (NLT) - Moses prayed...

15 If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.