These two devotionals were sent to me today. I get a couple of them sent to me in my email everyday and they always seem to have something I need to hear. And these two are about something I have been dealing with the last couple of weeks.

Love Without Refunds
August 22, 2006
Jesus; Love; Christian Living/Situational
Luke 6:27-36
"Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you…Pray for those who hurt you" (Luke 6:27-28, NLT).
We all have enemies. We all make them, we all hold grudges, we may have even gotten into a few fights in our lifetime. If someone hits us in the face, we'd like to return the favor.
But Jesus had different ideas concerning our enemies. He told us to love them.
Love them?! Is He serious?
Of course He is. If someone insults us, we shouldn't respond with similar behavior. We should get on our knees and pray for them. If we practice the same behavior they do, we aren't expressing God's love and forgiveness.
Jesus tells us to give freely what we have, not worrying about whether we get something in return. God lovingly offers the gift of eternal life, knowing that some people will never give Him anything back in return, namely their lives. We must "be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate" (Luke 6:36, NLT). We should hold ourselves to God's standards--to express love as an action, not just an emotion.

Jesus tells us to give freely what we have, not worrying about whether we get something in return. God lovingly offers the gift of eternal life, knowing that some people will never give Him anything back in return, namely their lives.
We must "be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate" (Luke 6:36, NLT). We should hold ourselves to God's standards--to express love as an action, not just an emotion.