What Jesus Did

[Jesus said,] "Do to others as you would like them to do to you."

—Luke 6:31 NLT

Key Thought


Some principles are the center around which other principles turn. They capture the truth in a succinct, and yet profound, way. The "Golden Rule" is one of those principles. It is the gold standard of relationship principles. This short principle defines what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves and opens our motives and behaviors up to self-scrutiny. Now, if we...

 

[Jesus said,] "Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back."

—Luke 6:30 NLT

Key Thought


Our stuff often owns us. We can even get more attached to our stuff than to the people in our lives. When our things are taken from us, we can be more concerned about the things than we are about the heart of the person who took those things. God wants us to be generous with others, just as he is generous with us. God poured out...

 

[Jesus said,] "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you."

—Luke 6:27 NLT

Key Thought


Can you think of anything more convicting than these words of Jesus? The goal of a Christian is to be like the Master. That means we are redemptive in all that we do. The goal is clear with our enemies; we are to love them and to do good to them. The question for us is not what our goal or our example is. The question is whether...

 

[Jesus said,] "Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you."

—Luke 6:28 NLT

Key Thought


Prayer has the power to change us. We can change as we see God's power work in people who have cursed and/or hurt us and make them into better people. Seeing their change helps us to continue our changing to be more like Jesus. However, even when folks don't change, prayer changes us as we offer ourselves to God for his service. We praise him for the magnificent God...

 

[Jesus said,] "If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also."

—Luke 6:29 NLT

Key Thought


This verse doesn't make sense to us if we look at it only on a human level. We don't want people to run all over us. We don't want to be doormats. We don't want folks continually taking advantage of us. Clearly, in Scripture, there comes a time to stop allowing folks to continue their evil behavior because...

 

[Jesus said,] "What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets."

—Luke 6:26 NLT

Key Thought


For whom and for what do you live? Jesus warned us to avoid living for the approval of the crowd. He demonstrated the importance of this principle in his own life. Sometimes the crowd wildly accepted him. Sometimes, the people in the crowd even wanted to make him king. During his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the crowd...

 

[Jesus said,] "What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow."

—Luke 6:25 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus enjoyed fellowship with sinners. He entered into a relationship with them to love, redeem, and then welcome them into God's family. Jesus knew how to enjoy a party! Remember the banquet that Matthew threw to introduce his sinful...

 

[Jesus said,] "What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now."

—Luke 6:24 NLT

Key Thought


So often we let our treasure become the things that are stuck "in the here and now." They do not have the lasting power to sustain us in this life, much less in the life to come. There is a very real sense that Christians should live "in the here and now" with a sense of urgency and awareness, but not focused on the material things of the "here and...

 

[Jesus said,] "What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way."

—Luke 6:22-23 NLT

Key Thought


The New Testament writers operated under the recognition that Christianity would always be a rejected counter-culture. The...

 

[Jesus said,] "God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh."

—Luke 6:21b NLT

Key Thought


Sorrow is inescapable. Sooner or later, sorrow will touch each heart. Sorrow at the loss of a loved one, sorrow over the world's evil, sorrow at the gross inhumanity of people, sorrow at the world's rejection of God's grace, or sorrow because of persecution for righteousness' sake will not be forgotten. God will not allow a single teardrop to be forgotten. He...