Note from author: This is a continuation of “Love for Enemies”.
Throughout the Love for Enemies series, we learned that we are to pray for those who hurt us, bless and not curse, to not rejoice when bad things happen to our enemies, even though we feel like they deserve it. In sum, we are to love people by treating all with patience and kindness in the same way God has shown us through Jesus (Matthew 7:12; Matthew 6:1-4).
Last week, we learned that loving our enemies goes further than praying for them, blessing them, not looking down on them. We also learned that if they are hungry, give them something to eat, and if they are thirsty, to give them something to drink. When we do good things to our enemies, the Bible teaches us that our acts of love awakens their conscience and God rewards us for how we treat them out of love (Romans 12:17-21; Proverbs 25:21-22).
Usually when enemies hurt you, they don’t really care how you feel. They act like you deserve to get hurt, even if you don’t.
If you feed them if they’re hungry, and give them something to drink if they’re thirsty, it makes them feel guilty for all the wrong ways they treated you. Maybe they won’t change right away, but God says their conscience will feel it. And God will remember what you do – and will reward you for how you loved your enemy.
Now that we know how we love our enemy, what about us? What reward do we get for treating people with love despite how they hurt us?
Remember the reason why we do anything out of love even for people who don’t deserve it? What are the two greatest commandments?
The two greatest commandments are: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second commandment is like it: love your neighbor as you love yourself (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:28-34)!
Amen? The reason why we keep up the faith and not get discouraged even though our enemies persecute and hurt us, is because Jesus was treated the same way, and yet overcame evil with good (Romans 12).
Jesus is the reason for our faith! He is the reason why we love – yes, even those who are our enemies – and have hope!
Let’s turn to Romans 5:1-11 (NLT)
Faith Brings Joy
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
When we choose to run the race following Christ, there will be always times when we feel shaken, want to give up, and say: “our actions change nothing. Our faith is useless. Life is so hard, I don’t see any point.”
But like we just read throughout the Bible, when we don’t give up despite problems and trials, our heart, soul, mind and strength is transformed into something far better and more wonderful than we can ask for, think, imagine, or measure (Romans 5).
We can only grow with love. People cannot live without love. We are created for more than just receiving love. We are created to love others in the same way He loved us (1 John 4:19; 1 Corinthians 13).
When we suffer and keep our eyes on Jesus throughout our suffering, even for things we don’t deserve, we develop something important and eternal as we hold on with faith that God will bring about something good out of it (John 15:16; Galatians 5:22-26)!
Romans 8:28 (NIV) says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
So we know the reason why we love our enemies. But what is our benefit? As we read, Romans 5:3-5 says we develop:
- Endurance (we are able to push on despite hardships). You know how runners are able to keep running for many meters, or hikers keep going for many miles up the mountain? That’s endurance. To keep going even after many other people give up. To endure even when we fail or things don’t work out the way we want them to. This spiritual endurance comes from focusing on Jesus!
- When we develop spiritual endurance, we start developing strength of character. If you meet athletes, you’ll notice that they all endured hardships to get where they were. Developing spiritual endurance transforms us to become humble. Because we overcame our suffering through endurance, we able to empathize with other people who are also suffering and to bless them. Some people become proud after enduring their hardships and look down on everyone who failed. But when you develop spiritual endurance, you are able to open your eyes to other people around you, people who need to experience the love of God, just as you received the love of God in your life.
- While we develop character, we also strengthen our hope. But Paul points out that this hope is not just a hopeful feeling or optimism for a better day. This spiritual hope is grounded in reality: life is hard, sometimes it gets worse. Yet because Christ overcame, we will also overcome (John 16:33; Revelations 12:11). In fact, Jesus bluntly said that anyone who wants to follow Him will suffer (Matthew 10:38; Matthew 16:24). Suffering is inevitable. We need to remember that the purpose of our suffering is so that our heart, mind, and spirit will become more like Jesus (Philippians 1:27-30). God never promised an easy life. In fact, Jesus said, if you want to follow me, you must take up your cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).
- And where does our hope of salvation lead us? Our hope of salvation will never lead to disappointment. (Romans 5:5-6) Our hope is not empty, our hope is not based on fake promises. We will see God’s promises to us fulfilled (1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4).
- When we keep up the faith, we will be saved from God’s condemnation against all sin through Jesus (Romans 5:10-11). More than that, we have friendship with God – not fake, I-am-friends-with-you-until-I-decide-I-don’t-like-you-for-whatever-reason friendship. But true, genuine, wonderful and lasting friendship (John 14:16-21)
- When we remain in faith, as our faith grows and our knowledge and understanding of God grows, our joy grows too! This kind of spiritual joy is not based on the good or bad things that happen in life. The joy God gives is the kind that keeps our spirit strong, even when things in the world happen that breaks our heart. It’s so important for us to have strong spirit.
Why is it important to have a strong spirit?
With a strong spirit, people can push through in life regardless of the hardships.
Proverbs 18:14 (NLT) says: “The human spirit can endure a sick body,
but who can bear a crushed spirit?”
Amen? But we have Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)!
Let’s decide every day to never give up following the example of Christ as He obeyed the Father, because of all Jesus has done for us, and is still doing for us!