“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 (NIV)
Aside from Jesus’ death and resurrection, John 3:16 is probably one of the more familiar verses of the Bible.
God’s love, as demonstrated in Christ’s sacrifice, leads to something important for us Christians to hold on to.
“31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Love Is Indispensable
And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” – 1 Corinthians 12:31 (NIV)
Paul’s point is that we can do all sorts of amazing things as Christians. Heal the sick, raise the dead…but if we do not have love, none of the things we have done matter (1 Corinthians 13).
But what do you think? Do you think Paul was only talking about love for family?
What about love for friends? Love for church? What about love for people we like but are not friends with? Love for people we do not like?
What about love for enemies?
Let’s read what Jesus said about loving our enemies.
Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV):
“Love for Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
I’ve got to be honest with you, this is the hardest commandment to ever follow. In fact if you think about it, it seems a bit messed up to love people who don’t deserve it. People who abuse you and hurt you. However, you can love someone unconditionally while setting boundaries (see previous posts The Condition to Love and The Condition to Love Part 2).
Persecution is something every prophet, every disciple, even Jesus, who did no wrong, suffered through. Every person in the Bible suffered persecution. Even today, Christians and other people suffer persecution.
Persecution doesn’t have to be physical. Persecution could be people talking negatively about you. Persecution could be people giving you a hard time at school (e.g., bullying), spreading rumors, or making you feel alone or rejected.
But even when people do those kinds of things to us, God commands us to love our enemies, and pray for them.
The problem is not God’s command to love our enemies. The problem is us. We often don’t feel like doing it. We don’t want good things to happen to bad people. We don’t want good things for people who hurt us. We do not want God to bless them.
Our natural way is to simply do what the world says it is okay to do: hurt them back. Make them hurt worse than the way they hurt you! Hate them more than they hate you. Do worse than they did to you.
But is that God’s way?
Have you been hurt by someone? Have you hurt them back because of what they did? When you hurt them back, how did you feel? Did you start feeling good or did the pain and guilt remain?
You already know that taking revenge, hurting people because of the way they treat us does not make our pain go away. We develop a guilty conscience as a result of our sin. That hurt and guilt can sometimes remain in our heart for many days, or when we remember it randomly while we are trying to go about our life.
The question then becomes: how do we can let go of that anger? How can we live with a free conscience? How can we let go of the injustice about the way people have hurt us? The answer lies in Matthew 5:44 (NIV):
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
It sounds crazy, but when you obey God and trust Him to help you obey this command, it’s true (2 Timothy 1:7).
Proverbs 10:12 (NIV) put it this way: “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.”
Amen?
If we are truly to be God’s children, we are to love our enemies. As God’s children, we are given the power to love and forgive people who are not good to us or do not reciprocate our love for them.
Love breaks the violent cycle. It will always start with you and me, God’s people, because of what Jesus has done on the cross for all people!
More importantly, God’s gift of forgiveness through Jesus is not just for “good” people or people who are likeable, but to everyone, good and bad. Why? So that all people may come to know God and be saved. Let’s read 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NLT):
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”
Remember, we ourselves were also spiritually dead in our sin (Ephesians 2:5). So no one is born good. We all are born spiritually dead. Everyone needs God’s forgiveness. We all need to be saved through Jesus!
The question then becomes: if we cannot save ourselves and cannot love our neighbor by our own power, how is it possible to love someone that we see as unlovable? How can we love our enemies?
Loving our enemies is made possible through Jesus!
1 John 4:9-10 (NIV):
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Even though Jesus endured persecution of all kinds, suffering from people spreading lies about Him, people condemning Him to death, people insulting and rejecting Him, what did He say while He was on the cross and people were making fun of Him?
“Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34a)
Jesus not only forgave His enemies, but also prayed for them.
Let’s strive to become more like Christ, maturing in our faith through love for God and our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:29-34).