Gospel

How Can I Love My Enemies?

by Roland Crim
02/10/17
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“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 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. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 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. 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. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:27-36 NIV

The instruction of Jesus contained herein is without doubt one of the hardest to accept. We are told to love our enemies.

You ask, “So I am expected to love members of ISIS? I am asked to love those who senselessly murder? How can anyone expect me to do this? It is contradictory to everything within me”

What did Jesus mean here by love? I don’t believe He was referring to a brotherly love (philia), or to a romantic love. What Jesus refers to here is agape love. Agape love is unconditional love. But how I can I have this kind of love for my enemies? One must separate the actions of a person from the individual. Actions can truly be hateful. But, who is the person that stands behind these actions? They are human just like us. They were born, having a mother and a father. They experienced many different types of circumstances in their lives just like us. Maybe they were manipulated or forced into actions which are hateful. We do not know what lead them to do the hateful things they do. Who are we to be their judge and jury?

What can we do to love such as these? We can pray for them. God loves each of them just as He loves us. We can pray that God will touch their hearts and lead them away from hateful and destructive actions. Our Heavenly Father and our Lord have been merciful and compassionate to us. We must do the same to all, including our enemies.

We must not offer resistance to them as individuals. We can offer resistance to inhumane actions, but separate the action from the individual.

We never know how a given circumstance may change our lives and what we then choose to do. Would you wish to be condemned because an action you took had a hateful or destructive intent behind it? Would you want to stand before God right then and be judged for what you did? God knows each of us and what truly causes our actions. He is loving, kind, and merciful. We are told to do the same. We must treat others in the same manner in which we wish them to treat us.

We can do as Jesus commands us herein. It is certainly not easy, but Jesus never said following Him would be easy. We must look at others in the same way the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ look at them. We have the indwelling Holy Trinity to help us do what Christ commands. Let us not throw up our hands and say I cannot do it. Let us have the indwelling Holy Trinity guide our action. Let us love our enemies!