Most people live by an unwritten rule: Do good to those who do good to you or who might treat you well in the future. It just makes sense. Why be nice to someone, let alone do something good for them, if they won’t even give you the time of day?

But here’s some craziness—Jesus says, “Do good to your enemies, even to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27,28, my paraphrase).

Is that easy for you to do? Even though Jesus is transforming me, when someone is opposed to me, doing something nice for them is not usually my first impulse. Who would have guessed that God’s way is for us to be kind to those who want to hurt us?*

We may not initially want to do good, but walking with Jesus changes us, and our actions and motives begin to change. Maybe this is why people who follow Him stand out from the crowd. We avail ourselves to His goodness and live differently from the world, even to the point of loving those who are against us. 

And since the goodness of Jesus’ followers is the way our world will know Him—this is the ultimate, crazy good!

How are you letting Jesus take over your thoughts and actions toward those who mistreat you or are against you?

*(Note: I’m not saying those experiencing abuse and mistreatment should stay in those situations. But even in those circumstances Jesus’ way is counter-intuitive: He calls us to pray for those who mistreat us. See Luke 6:28)