Expecting Nothing in Return

Lk. 6:35-36

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

How could I really live expecting nothing in return even from those who were not my enemies? I know that if I do something nice for my husband or someone in the family, I have expectations about their responses. In fact, if my expectations are unmet, they only point out the ungratefulness of others. I feel hurt and unappreciated, but in truth, it comes down to my heart. Did I really do good and give for the joy of giving or for the joy of receiving praise?

How can I apply this to someone considered my enemy? Normally, the human feeling toward an enemy is not one of giving but of getting even. Jesus is calling me to go out of my self and my selfishness to reach out to others. He wants me to love as He loved, to do good as He was good, and to be merciful as He was merciful. I think it all comes down to my relationship with God. Has God's character impacted my life? Has His Spirit produced godly fruit in my life? As God was merciful and kind to me, so I must reach out to others. As I was ungrateful and evil when God reached out to me, so in turn I must share God's grace with those who are ungrateful and evil.

Father,

Rid me of my selfishness so that I might love others. You have shown me what it means to expect nothing in return, now help me make it a reality in my life.

In Jesus name,

Amen