Do I have to?

One thing about God's Word is that vary rarely do you find caveats when He calls us to do something... REJOICE ALWAYS period, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES period, IN YOUR ANGER DO NOT SIN period, FORGIVE period. There's no room for, "But, you don't understand! They've done/said this, this, and this to me!" or "God didn't mean this when he said those things". But the truth is, God just knows us way too well. He knows that even if He had listed every possible scenario to those commands that we would always try and find some little loop hole. As children of God, we're called to be holy (set apart) as He is holy. That means we're not to be like the world. The world says, "you got a raw deal, go ahead and become bitter", "They said that or did that to you, you have every right to be nasty back to them", "They've hurt you time and time again, just forget them!". That's what the world says, but God calls us to be different...period. In John 14:15 Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." So the answer to that question of "do I have to?" no matter what the world may say is a definite yes... even when it's not easy. (I may or may not be learning this lesson right now myself ;) )