(Luke 6:27-36) Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
I REALLY struggle with these verses. Because often I struggle to love the people who are closest to me never mind those who are my enemy. Of course I feel a strong emotional connection to them...but if we look at what love is based on 1 Corinthians 13, I struggle. I'm very impatient with my son. I'm not always kind to my husband. I envy people around me often. I am ridiculously proud in many ways. These things show I am not being loving. And this is to the people CLOSEST to me. How am I supposed to love people who are rude, evil, mean, etc?
Awhile ago somebody said some very hurtful things to me and I know I haven't forgiven them yet. I would like to think I have, but I haven't. This person isn't somebody super close to me but is also not just somebody I don't really have a relationship with either. I know I haven't forgiven them because I often judge them for their actions, lifestyle, choices, etc. whereas prior to the hurtful things said, I don't know that I did. At least not to this extent!
I know Jesus gives practical advice here on how to do this. If somebody does this, then do that! But I think a lot of it has to do with the heart. I can do good to somebody by action but not like them in my heart and mind. So am I really loving them? No. So how do we come to love people who are our enemies? Well the only thing I can think of is daily ask God to help us to die to ourselves (if you're dead...not physically but in the Biblical sense, then you can't be offended) and ask the Holy Spirit for help. Maybe it'll be a difficult thing to do at first and in the moment we'll have to ask for help. We may struggle awhile but who knows, maybe it'll become easy.
I love teachings like this (although they are ridiculously difficult to follow) because it shows us who God is. We are asked to love our enemies because God does. He died for all of us while we were still his enemy. He could of killed the men who crucified him but he went to the cross silently.
Oh how the world would change if Christians acted this out daily. God help us. Help us to die to ourselves and live like you did in human form. Help me to love not only those around me who are close to me but also my enemies. Help me to forgive people when they wrong me. Help me to pray for those who persecute me. Help me to bless those who curse me. Help me to pray for those who mistreat me. Let me love like you did to everybody around me. I certainly cannot love like this without your help.
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