Jesus told us to love our enemies. Not tolerate them. Not avoid them. Love them.

And if you're honest, that sounds impossible. Your enemy isn't a stranger — they're the person who betrayed you, the one who lied about you, the one who hurt someone you love. Loving them feels like betraying yourself.

But here's the thing: Jesus never asked us to feel warm fuzzies toward people who wronged us. He asked us to want their good. That's a choice, not a feeling. And choices can be made even when feelings lag behind.

There is a belief so deeply woven into many of us that we rarely notice its weight: the idea of a retributive God. A God who keeps score. Who requires payment. Who loves us only after the debt is settled, the apology accepted, the punishment endured. A God whose primary relationship to humanity is one of judgment first and mercy second—if mercy comes at all.

This belief does not stay in the realm of theology. It seeps into the way we see ourselves.

We all carry a story about who we are. Some of it comes from our family, some from our failures, some from the expectations of others, but the gospel tell us something radical. Jesus came to correct that story. Not just to forgive our sins, but to rewrite who we are at the deepest level. 

Think about His own baptism. Before He had preached a single sermon or healed a single person, the Father’s voice split the sky and said, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” 

Then in the very next breath, the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness and the accuser shows up. His first words are a question of identity. “If you are the Son of God…” He is questioning the very identity the Father just declared. And that’s what makes it so dangerous. It’s not a direct attack. It is a whisper that questions the core of His identity. 

The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. (Isaiah 32:17 NKJV)

Righteousness is a very Christian word. It is all over our bible. We use it a lot. But what does it really mean?

If we look up the Hebrew word, we find that it has a basic definition of righteousness, fairness, or justice. It is a different word from a retributive justice. That would be the Hebrew word mishpat. The word for righteousness, tsedaqah, is a justice that corrects what is wrong. 

God saw that it was just, right, and fair to correct what was wrong in our thinking rather than simply punishing us for thinking it. So Jesus came and stood among us as the Correction of every misunderstanding we had about God, about ourselves, and about people in general. 

Rather than a vengeful short-tempered being, Jesus revealed a loving Father. He revealed that we are His children and we are greatly loved. He revealed that humanity never lost its value, even though they had lost their concept of God as well as their own identity. 

There is a part of “The Lion King” where Simba is lost. His mind has forgotten who he was. He didn’t forget through amnesia. He knew all of the details of his life, but he believed the lies of an accuser who had convinced him that he was unworthy to live like his father. (The accuser was not the true Lion King, he was just a lyin' king.)
 
After some time, Rafiki came to seek this one who was lost. He came to show Simba who he really was. He came to remind the young lion who his father was.
 
This sounds like Jesus, who came to declare to us that God was, after all, our Father. In Christ, we see our true identity. He reminds us that we are made in God’s likeness and image. Jesus, like Rafiki, came to seek and save that which was lost. He is the Truth, and in the Truth our identity is remembered and we are restored, made free from the lies and slanderous accusations made against us. As we see it more clearly, as we humbly embrace the reality that we are God’s children and worthy of being loved, we become more immune to the voices that made us ashamed.

“I see men as trees walking." - Mark 8:24

Judi and I didn’t grow up together as children, but we had some commonalities in our experience. For one, we both loved nature. Also, Judi had a favorite tree she would sit in. It felt like a friendly and safe place. Sitting in that tree gave her a good feeling.

I also had a favorite tree that I would climb for the same reasons. It was a big live oak so strong that the branches barely moved as I navigated its leafy maze. I actually thought of it as my friend.

Have you ever noticed how often the Bible likens us to trees? It tells us in a number of places that as we trust our Father, we will be like trees planted by a river of water. We would not lack for a life source, even when the world around is experiencing drought. Our inner self would be well fed by the riverbank soil and the water every day. We will grow. We will become strong and established in the Father’s grace as we become rooted and grounded in His Love. We are not easily moved at the current events of the day. We bear fruit year-round.

This year on our podcast, The Third Option, our focus has been on understanding the Bible through a lens of Grace. Each week we have looked at aspects of various parts of the New Testament. We recently did a study on the book of Galatians and today we thought we would share a few thoughts from our study.

The Book of Galatians is one of the most significant letters written by the Apostle Paul. This epistle addresses the tension between grace and law in the early Christian church, providing a clear understanding of the gospel message that emphasizes what God has done for us, rather than what we must do for Him. What began as a Jewish sect called The Way gradually became a mix of Jewish and Gentile believers. This proved to be challenging. Those leaving a very law-based tradition of religion were suspect of the Gentiles’ freedom and wanted to impose some of their traditions onto the new believers.

Almost 20 years ago, I (Judi) was out of work and deeply depressed. An important relationship was broken. I was in between careers and floundering to find my purpose in life. It was a very difficult time for me. For six months two of my brothers paid my bills to try to help me get back on my feet again and to keep me from having to lose my apartment. To say it was a bit humiliating is an understatement. My pride was hurt and I felt like a complete failure. Nonetheless, I needed help and didn’t see any other options. Here I was, a college graduate, having worked since I was 16 years old (not counting working on the farm when I was growing up), and I couldn’t find a job to simply support myself. 

Eventually, I was able to secure a good job where I grew and flourished in the business world. It was something I wouldn’t have thought I would do well in, but years later, I received an award from the company for being an outstanding employee. To their credit, my brothers never asked for me to financially repay them. They wanted to see me do well. Their kindness was received as a gift, a gift I couldn’t pay back immediately.

Has any one of us ever said that our own beliefs are wrong, and someone else’s beliefs are right? I don’t think so, because what we believe is just what we believe, whether it’s correct or not, and there is so much to debate about religion. There are so many thoughts and ideas, so many interpretations, and so many different "church fathers" to agree with. 
 
There are a lot of things that I once declared dogmatically that I no longer hold to, yet I see God lovingly having His arms around me the whole time, being patient with my inaccuracies, not really rebuking me, but continuing to gently lead me as a wise Father would.

Today I am thinking about (and being grateful for) the true riches of God! His Spirit continues to take us into more peace, joy, love, and goodness. These internal blessings are what make us truly wealthy. He is restoring our souls.
 
I had lived on earth for around forty years before I truly tasted peace in my soul. Many of those years, I was a Christian minister pursuing peace. A lot of my attention was on getting “more”, (more anointing, more people in my church, more money, more anything.) There was always something “wrong” that needed to be fixed. It’s hard to rest inside when you are always chasing a fix.

[4] We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. [5] We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NLT)

What are the human reasonings Paul is referring to here that make up a stronghold in the mind? 

For one, man’s idea of God is often based on human reasoning and becomes the accepted belief that will be argued over and defended. For example, if one experiences authority as harsh and punitive, one easily can develop a similar idea about God. It just makes sense to them. If someone’s paradigm of God has been with them since early childhood, then of course it will seem natural and unquestionable. Human reasoning often erects an image of God that is not good, not helpful and not true. Inevitably, it becomes a proud obstacle that prevents the person from actually knowing God, relating to God, or truly trusting God. 

This year on our podcast, The Third Option, Judi and I have been re-looking at the Bible, talking about understanding it better, particularly through the perspective of God’s Love and Grace. Recently, we’ve been exploring some of the books in the New Testament. This month we have several episodes discussing Paul’s letters to the Corinthian Church.  

The letter of 1 Corinthians, penned around 53-55 AD, addresses a diverse and dynamic church community in Corinth. This congregation was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles, with backgrounds ranging from strict Judaism to pagan practices like temple prostitution. Corinth itself was a bustling port city with a reputation for cultural diversity, class divisions, and a strong emphasis on charismatic expressions. Corinthian culture prized oratory, charisma, and public displays—traits that naturally seeped into the church. Such cultural influences made it tempting for believers to seek recognition through their spiritual manifestations.

God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone. This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age. [Titus 2:11-12, TPT]

To understand this passage correctly, we need to know what is meant by a “godly life”. Legalism would define it by outward behavior, but Grace defines it by the Fruit of the Spirit. God cares a lot more that you have love, joy and peace in your heart, than whether you smoke, drink or cuss. So primarily Grace teaches us the way of God or the Fruit of the Spirit. We can tell a little about how it’s done by looking at the Greek word for “teach” used in the scripture above:

Paideuo (gr.): shaping a person's mind and character by passing on knowledge and values. 

As God shapes our mind and passes on His values, we find ourselves drawn towards love and even being healed of inner wounds as our thoughts are enlightened. 

Is the teaching of Grace the antidote for sin?

I have two points to this question:

1. Neither the preaching of Law nor the preaching of Grace guarantee that someone will never sin. In fact, I don’t see anywhere in the Bible that Grace is guaranteed to do that for us. And if we want it to be the antidote for sinful behavior, maybe we are missing the point of it all.

I have been around a lot of people who preach Grace and who preach Law. And I’ve found that they’ve all been susceptible to sinful behavior because of the weak flesh that we all live with. 

2. However, Grace can do something that legalism will never do, because Grace reveals something about God that legalism denies. 

I am an orator by trade. My job is to use words in a feeble attempt to describe God. Try as I may, I am very much aware that my words will never succeed in giving an accurate picture of God. One reason is that I simply don't know that much about God. I do know a little, and that little bit is absolutely powerful in my life. The little I know has brought a lot of heaven into my experience, but compared to God's bigness and beauty, there's so much that I cannot fathom.

I DO know a lot of things to say ABOUT God. I know a LOT about the scriptures. I know a LOT of theology, and I know a LOT about Christianity, but God is largely a beautiful and wonderful mystery to me. When I'm talking with others about the scriptures, theology, or Christianity, we can have some very interesting, fun, and even combative discussions. We will fill the room with facts that either verify or question our beliefs. Our passion for knowing has drawn us to much study and it's very interesting.

Morals are good things. We are considered to have morality when we are guided by positive, inward, personal principles and values. Morality is certainly better than immorality, which forsakes mutually acceptable standards of good behavior.

Virtually all cultures and ideologies would agree on many things concerning what is good or bad behavior, but we find in our societies a thing called moralization. Moralization is another thing altogether, it is the process of giving a personal preference or a neutral issue more weight than is good for humans. A good example would be that some people believe that it is good to drink no alcohol at all, so they would like to impose a prohibition upon everyone, even on those with no negative impact on their moral behavior.

While morals are good, moralization is detrimental, and it lives in a lot of religion. The grace of God goes against moralism. Grace is just so lovely, and while moralism might mean well, it is very imperfect. It doesn't ultimately bring about Godliness, and it is actually very weak and collapses under its own weight.

The New Testament talks about something living in you. It’s called, “God in you”, “Christ in you”, “the Spirit in you”, “the living water in you”, “the kingdom in you”, “the seed in you”. 

These are not a lot of separate things inside of us. They are onething. These are all things that pertain to God. It is Him living within us. It’s the seed of LOVE. 

The seed of LOVE was planted with the greatest act of love ever demonstrated: the Son of God dying for mankind. He initiated a new and living way for us that would ultimately change the world. 

The Bible says that God’s love has been placed in us by the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 9:7 says that of the increase of His government and of peace, there will be no end. Jesus said something like this when He said, the seed, though it begins small, becomes a large tree where all the birds of the air can find rest. 

The truth shall make you free. Jesus is the truth (about God, and about you).
 
He shows us the Father, because He is like the Father, one with the Father. He shows us our true selves, because we are in the likeness of Him, and one with Him.
 
If, as the Bible says, the works were finished from the foundation of the world, then WE were finished from the foundation of the world. That’s also why it says that we were chosen in Him BEFORE the foundation of the world.

A lot of Christians are living under a culture of judgment. They feel that God is judging them, or He is certainly going to judge them. And this idea is a central theme to many of us. That’s probably why judgment easily flows from us. The culture of judgment might cause us to constantly measure ourselves, asking “Have we been good enough?” “Are we doing enough?” “What am I missing?” “Should I become something better?” And if I feel that I am not good enough for God, but I could be if I become someone better, then I look at other people and I can see their shortcomings and I may often judge them as unworthy of God’s favor and blessings. 

Here is a little piece of scripture that makes me cringe. It’s a prayer invoking evil upon others, calling on God to bring calamity down on people. These are some of the most horrible words in the Bible:
 
“O daughter of Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!” – Psalms 137:8-9
 
I remember that Jesus once challenged a group of men to “cast the first stone”. If He were speaking to these Jewish exiles in Babylon, would He challenge them to smash the first baby?
 
I think this shows the fallacy of the idea of retributive justice, the idea that God will somehow balance the scales of justice by bringing evil on those who do evil. Yet can you see how this brand of justice brings nothing good or solves no problem? It only brings more pain, more destruction, more sorrow, and more death.
 
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” – Proverbs 16:25