If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it. (Exodus 23:5)Whether these words were spoken by Moses, or (as most critical Bible scholars suggest) were expansions of a later time, they give us a picture of a nation's developing legal interpretation.
All these laws stem from the very first: You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). Jesus spoke that first commandment like this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30). Together with what Jesus termed the second greatest commandment, it can be summed up like this: Love God, love people.
Only a life filled with the love of Christ could live up to Exodus 23:5, as printed above. Don't just shower with kindness those who can benefit you, those who will appreciate it, and those who will pay it back; love your enemies too.
But this is not something that can really be planned ahead. These are the kinds of circumstances that come out of the blue. One's heart must already be transformed with the desire to love one's enemies, and we must ask God to prepare us for when the opportunity arises.
This week, make it a matter of prayer to ask that God's love fill your heart, even for those who have treated you badly.
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