"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father..." -Jesus

I was sharing with a Non-Christan, (and perhaps he was even an atheist), the other day, and shared how I have been called by Christ to love even my enemies. I shared how I do this, and then I thought, I'll have to see what JC Ryle has to say about this, since my daughter and her husband have blessed me with his commentary on the Gospels. So that is what this post is all about.

[Established 1546, Nave of the Christ Church Cathedral]

"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."-Our Lord

"There is much in all this which calls loudly for solemn reflection. There are few passages of Scripture so calculated to raise inn our minds humbling thoughts. We have here a lovely picture of the Christian as he ought to be.We cannot look at it without painful feelings. ... It is attention to the spirit of this passage which makes our religion beautiful. It is the neglect of the things which it contains by which our religion is deformed.......

Who can fail to see that nothing would so much tend to increase happiness as the spread of Christian love, such as is here recommended by our Lord? Let us all remember this. Those who fancy that true religion has any tendency to make men unhappy, are greatly mistaken. It is the absence of it that does this, and not the presence. True religion has the directly contrary effect. It tends to promote peace, and charity, and kindness, and good will among men. The more men are brought under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the more they will love one another, and the more happy they will be." -John Charles Ryle, Bishop of Liverpool (1816-1900). He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford.