Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
“Little Bunny Foo Foo, hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and boppin’ them on the head…”
If you’ve heard the infamous children’s song about Little Bunny Foo Foo, you most likely haven’t forgotten it. It’s one of those tunes that sticks, especially when your daughter plays it incessantly on her little recorder. To describe it as annoying would be an understatement.
But Little Bunny Foo Foo possesses one redeeming characteristic. It reminds me of how to deal with my reoccurring sin. I gotta’ keep boppin’ it on the head.
Take resentment…
C.S. Lewis writes in order to love our enemies in the way God calls us, we have to kill the feeling of resentment whenever it occurs, “day after day, year after year, all our lives long, we must hit it on the head.” Otherwise it will eventually consume us. Lewis concedes it’s not an easy task and suggests we begin with something easier than the Gestapo…start with a spouse or parent or our misbehaving children.
The challenge: intentionally dismiss every surfacing dark thought toward someone who hurts us or disagrees with our positions. Christianity offers no room for holding grudges. We have to take out every hint of resentment, no matter who, no matter why. If we give resentment an inch, it will take over and before we know it, we will be well advanced on a journey toward full-blown hatred.
Sometimes I just don’t want to “bop it.” As much as I hate to admit, I can enjoy the thought of someone getting his just deserts. Resentment can pollute my sense of justice to the point I like the idea of my enemy suffering the consequences of bad actions more than I desire his change. That’s a problem. That’s when I need to fall on my knees and ask God to forgive me. To help me love my enemy as myself.
As long as I’m in this mortal body, I have to keep boppin’ those sightings of my sinful nature on the head. It’s the only way to keep those pesky field mice from taking over. How about you? Need to do some head-bopping today?