If we choose to follow the path that leads to the Kingdom, it will bring hardship and we will have enemies. We may not even need to be all that vocal about our beliefs – just being Christian may bring the wrath of society down upon us. But, we are to respond to all such animosity with extraordinary love and kindness. The Gospel will be an offense to some and they will hate us. It is specifically the people in this group that we are to go out of our way to love. Living out the Gospel also means loving another challenging group – the poor and the chronically dysfunctional. The challenge loving people like this, is that they will often take advantage of you and may abuse you in their own manipulative and selfish way. We are to love them, even when they take advantage – showing forgiveness and a persistent love in face of all resistance.
