"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" – 2 Corinthians 5:17 When Jesus saves you, He does not just adjust your direction. He completely transforms your destination. More than that, He changes you from the inside out. He changes your mind, your heart, your desires, and your actions. That is not just behavior change. That is new l...  Read More

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven" – Matthew 6:1 Picture two chairs in front of you. One marked OLD, the other marked NEW. One represents who you were. The other represents who you are becoming. You have sat in both. The difference is not just about your actions. It is about y...  Read More

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 Some stories stay with you. Chris Leggett’s story is one of them. He was just a guy from a local church who heard God’s call and said yes. He left behind comfort, safety, and familiarity to serve in one of the hardest places on earth. He believed people needed Jesus, so he went. And he lived out his faith in ...  Read More

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48 At first glance, the verse above can feel overwhelming. Be perfect? Really? But Jesus wasn’t calling us to live flawlessly. He was calling us to grow up. The word He used, teleios, means complete, mature, fully developed. Like a diamond that’s considered perfect by a jeweler, not because it’s flawless, but because ...  Read More

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:43-44 No matter how kind you try to be, someone will still find a way to mistreat you. And when that moment comes, you will have a choice to make about how you respond. Most people fall into one of four categories. Some seek rev...  Read More

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” – Matthew 5:44-45 When Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, He adds a reason that might catch us off guard. He says we should do this s...  Read More

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus consistently raises the bar on what it means to follow Him. He tells His audience not just to walk the extra mile or to refuse retaliation, but to go even further by loving their enemies. Then He takes it to a level most weren’t ready for. He says to pray for those who persecut...  Read More

“Pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 Jesus does not just ask us to go the extra mile. He tells us to pray for the very people who make us want to quit walking altogether. That was not a casual suggestion. It was a radical command spoken to a group of people who knew firsthand what real persecution felt like. His audience had been mistreated by the Romans, ignored by religious leaders,...  Read More

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 We all have or know someone who makes life harder. Maybe it is someone who has talked behind your back, mistreated you, rejected you, or just keeps making the same choices that test your patience. When you think of them, the idea of love is not the first thing that comes to mind. And yet Jesus calls us to som...  Read More

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" – Matthew 5:44 When Jesus said these words, He was not just correcting a teaching. He was confronting a mindset. Over and over in the Sermon on the Mount, He started with the phrase, “You have heard that it was said,” because He was pushing back on the way Scripture had been twisted by the religious leaders of the day. In t...  Read More

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" – Matthew 5:43-44 Abraham Lincoln was once criticized during the Civil War for being too kind to his enemies. One advisor told him, “Mr. President, you should destroy your enemies.” Lincoln paused and then replied, “Do I not destroy my enem...  Read More

"Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." – Matthew 5:42 When Jesus talked about generosity, He didn’t put a cap on it. He didn’t say to give only when it’s convenient or comfortable. He simply said to give. And what He’s pointing to is more than a one-time act. It’s a mindset. It’s a way of life rooted in the belief that everything we have come...  Read More