The Missionary
The Life of a Missionary – Part 3

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:21-32

Key Verse: Matthew 5:22

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

This last section of Matthew chapter five has a central theme of how to deal with a hostile person.  A hostile person may ask you to do things that you feel are unfair.  A hostile person may steal things from you or “borrow” something and never return it.  A hostile person may talk very negatively about you behind your back; maybe to your face!

            The question for today is: How do you handle these situations?  How do you normally treat an “enemy;” a hostile person?  If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord, then you’ve been given a mission to accomplish.  As a missionary you must learn to handle these hostile situations as Jesus has taught us!  By the way, our homes are great practice grounds for these situations.  Those closest to us can often be the ones being hostile to us in given situations.

            Jesus’ first lesson was to not respond verbally but to turn the other cheek.  As missionaries we are to learn how to accept the fact that things in this world will not feel good to us or be fair to us many times.  We are to quietly go about life loving people in spite of their behavior toward us.  Yes, this is one of the most difficult challenges Jesus gives His followers!  But God gives us the promise that we can do this, not by our own strength, but by divine power working in us (Philippians 4:13).

Father, help me to slow my reactions down when someone mistreats me.  Help me to respond to everyone in a Christ like way today!  In Jesus’ name, amen.