Be Holy Matt 5:43-48 (Linton Hall)
August 16, 2026
Matthew 5:43-48 ESV
“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, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 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.
1. A Holy Life Forgives When It Would Be Easier to Hold a Grudge
Colossians 3:13 ESV
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another,
forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” – Lewis Smedes
2. A Holy Life Practices Integrity, Even When No One Is Watching
Proverbs 11:3 NIV
The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
3. A Holy Life Loves People Who Are Hard to Love
“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did.” – CS Lewis
4. A Holy Life Stays Humble in a Culture Addicted to Self
5. A Holy Life Practices Sexual Integrity in a Sexually Broken World
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
1 Peter 2:12
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
