You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 543 44 an old pastor and his wife were living in Bern, Switzerland, many years ago. Some of the men in town didn't like the pastor. They heckled him whenever they saw him and trampled on his lawn, hoping to make him and his wife so miserable that they would leave town. Time passed. The heckling continued, but the old pastor and his wife stayed put. One day, very early in the morning, a group of the men who wanted to drive the old pastor out of town went to his house and began tearing the tile off his roof. When the pastor saw what they were doing, he asked his wife to prepare a good breakfast for the men. When all was ready, he went outside and invited the men to come in and eat. The men figured they might as well take advantage of the old pastor and get a free meal. So they gathered around the table and then the old pastor prayed. He thanked the Lord for the food, then prayed for each of the men and their families. He and his wife then graciously served the men breakfast. After the men had eaten, they went outside and put the pastor's roof back together again. Some would say that the old pastor was crazy to be so nice as to serve breakfast to men who were destroying his property and tormenting him. I say he was just doing what Jesus told us all to do. People won't always be nice to us, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't always be nice to others, even to those who are mean to us. It is hard thing to do sometimes, and being nice to people who aren't nice to us won't necessarily change anything about the way they treat us or what they think or say of us. But it is always the right thing to do. That was Jesus point. We should always do the right thing even if others don't. We should always be kind and nice to others, even if others aren't kind and nice to us. We are supposed to be like Jesus after all, and not simply like everyone else.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to dailythoughtspodcastmail.com. Have a great day and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.