LOVE YOUR ENEMIES (EASIER SAID THAN DONE)

But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love^G25 your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. . .

Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love^G25 those who love²⁵ you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love^G25 those who love^G25 them. . .

But love^G25 your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:27-28, 31-32, 35-36 (see also Matthew 5:43-47)

Part of us wishes the Lord had left this passage out of His sermon. It is one thing to say, “I choose to love my enemies,” but another thing entirely to do good things for them. This seemingly impossible task is only possible as we are God’s instruments of compassion in the hands of the Holy Spirit. By “pray for them,” we do not think Jesus means to pray they go away and leave us alone. We should pray for God to draw them to Jesus and bless them as objects of His grace. We should pray that Jesus draws them into the transformative reality of salvation. When we see that type of prayer answered, our enemies become our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Reading the stories at www.persecution.com is a humbling experience as so many of them express the desire to see the salvation of the very ones who persecuted them. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This is the principle that we were taught as children called “The Golden Rule.” Jewish rabbis and even other religions taught a similar concept but stated it negatively—Do not do something to others that you would not want done to you. Jesus, however, elevated this and taught it in the affirmative. We are to do good things to and for others like we would want them to do for us because it is not only the right thing but commanded by Jesus. This is placed in the passage on doing good to our enemies which tells us we do not make an exception to the Golden Rule just because we do not think a person deserves to be treated well. We are to treat everyone like we would want to be treated. Jesus is saying, “Don’t pat yourself on the back for returning love to someone who already loves you.” The greater love is to emulate the love of Jesus who loved us unconditionally even while we were His enemies (Romans 5:10). Jesus teaches that we are to do good for people even if they never have and probably never will return the favor. Generously and unconditionally loving our enemies is foolproof evidence that we truly are the children of God. In obeying these commands of Jesus, we are imitating His behavior because God gives generously to both believers and non-believers. For example, God provides sunlight and rain to grow crops for food not just for those who love Him but for all mankind. 

You may not have an obvious enemy in the sense of someone who is persecuting you or at war against you. However, is there someone you cannot seem to forgive? Someone who has hurt you deeply? Pray for them. Ask the Lord to enable you to forgive and perhaps even show kindness to them. Forgive as He has forgiven you—unconditionally and completely even though you did not deserve it.

Father, may Your Spirit flow through us and enable us to love even our enemies.