Love and pray for them

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Matthew 5:43,44 NIV

On February 06, The Oregonian published a story headlined, "Portland runner, healthcare worker fatally shot on mother’s birthday: ‘He was a true Northwest person’" Jeff Ramirez, they reported, had just wrapped up an afternoon run at Mt. Tabor Park with his beloved husky, Azul, and was heading to his Northeast Portland home to spend time with his mother on her birthday when the day of celebration turned tragic, his family said. The healthcare worker, runner and avid outdoorsman was in his pickup truck when a bullet zipped into the cab and struck his torso Wednesday. Ramirez, 35, died behind the wheel of his Honda Ridgeline along busy Southeast Stark Street near 119th Avenue just before 4 p.m., according to relatives and police. The burst of broad daylight gunfire also wounded another man, who authorities found a block away. “It’s just so stupid and senseless,” Thomas Smith, a cousin of Ramirez, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Sunday. “We are absolutely destroyed.” Days after the fatal shooting — one of 12 homicides to occur in Portland this year, including four in the last week — Ramirez’s loved ones remain heartbroken and baffled by what they believe to be a random act of violence, Smith said. Police have disclosed few details, including whether Ramirez and the wounded man knew each other. Meanwhile, the shooter or shooters remain at large. “We have next to no information,” Smith said in a telephone interview. “It’s frustrating."

And you know, stupid and senseless acts like this, acts of violence that were predicted in the Bible and will continue to increase in both severity and number, are indeed very frustrating and beyond heartbreaking to say the least. But rather than react as the world does by hating the offenders, labeling them as enemies and wishing them harm, we as believers are called to love them and to pray for them instead; something that is completely contrary to what comes natural. And we do this so that others will see the love of Christ in us, the love Jesus displayed when He died for us while we were still sinners, and come to seek Him because of it. 

So resist the urge to hate those who have wronged you and to love only those who love you back my friend. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” instead, keeping in mind that many of those who oppose Christ have never heard the Gospel... the Good News that literally has the power to change their hearts. This is the only way you and I will ever win the lost to the foot of the Cross. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for warning us about the difficult days that are ahead of us. Cause us to stay faithful, to stand strong, and to remain courageous during these times Lord so that we might not shy away from our mission to make disciples of all nations. Help us to love others as You do Lord and to forgive them as You do so that they might see what real love is and be drawn to the One who inspires it. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!