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Following is an excerpt of "Love Without Limits (6 of 12)" by Keith Krell added on 10/23/2009.
This content is part of a series.
Love Without Limits (6 of 12)
Series: Counter-Cultural Christianity
Keith Krell
Matthew 5:38-48

Last month, my neighbor and workout partner turned a stunningly youthful forty. His generous wife bought him a thousand dollar mini-gym. Ted and I were beside ourselves! We were finally going to lift weights as God originally intended. There was only one problem: The three flat boxes that were delivered looked nothing like the gym we were expecting. We needed to put this weight-lifting paradise together ourselves. (I hate it when there is no demo model!) We read on-line that the estimated time to put everything together was eight hours! I about cried when I read this! To make matters more excruciating, the directions were dreadful! Whoever wrote these directions is either a rocket scientist from MIT with a chip on his shoulder, or an utter imbecile with a sadistic sense of humor. Unlike me, Ted is very mechanically inclined. Yet, even Ted said, "I have never put together anything more difficult than the Marcy 4300." In time, we assembled the beast. Or, should I say, Ted finally subdued this project. I just handed him tools and tried not to make too many blunders. In the end, the only way we completed this task was by following the directions. Even though the directions were confusing, difficult, and disputable, without them we would have been sunk. Therefore, we poured over every page, photograph, diagram, and step-by-step direction, gleaning what help each could offer.

Likewise, in the spiritual realm, the only way to deal with an especially daunting task or relationship is by studying the directions in God's Word. This admonition is especially important when it comes to loving those who hurt us. We live in a society of raw power: the one with the strongest fists or the most guns wins. Instead of the Golden Rule, our ethics are, "Do unto others first, before they do unto you." "If they do anything bad to you at all, finish them off before they can do anything worse." Or my personal favorite, "I don't get mad, I get even." All of these expressions are natural responses; however, you and I are called to live a supernatural life. In Matthew 5:38-48 Jesus says, "When you love without limits, you are like God." In these eleven verses, He lays down two discipleship commitments.

1. Forgo your own "rights" (5:38-42). Contrary to popular belief, you have no rights. When you became a disciple, you signed up to die to self. In 5:38 Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'" Jesus quotes the law of retaliation that is found in three Old Testament passages (Exod 21:24; Lev 24:20; Deut 19:21). This phrase causes some to say that the Old Testament Law was savage and bloodthirsty, but that is not true. Actually, it was the beginning of mercy. And it is the foundational law of all civilization. Although it allows retaliation, it limited retaliation by setting restrictions. The law was intended as an e ...

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