Love your Enemies

Matthew 5:43-45

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'   But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,  that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;  NKJV

It can be very difficult when you have been hurt, wounded or persecuted by an individual to love them, bless them and especially pray for them.  In fact in your heart of flesh you might think it’s impossible to do; but Jesus also says that what is impossible for man is possible with God.

This type of love and attitude can only come from God because God is love and His love is unconditional, patient, kind and holds no record of wrongs etc...  It goes far beyond our limited and human love.  Read 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter of love and see how good God’s love truly is.  Compared to ours - there’s no comparison.  God does however allow us these experiences to work in us and teach us how to love like He does over time.    

So how can we love like this if it’s just not in us?  How can we respond to those who would be considered our enemies with God’s love rather than hate or bitterness?  The answer is... with a surrendered heart, we ask God to give us His love for this person.  We ask Him to help us to see this person through His eyes and love Him with His love and honestly confess that we can’t but we must believe by faith that God can and will change our hearts in this area.  

God will always be faithful to answer this prayer because we are seeking to glorify Him in spite of how we feel and also to forgive them.  In doing this we ARE daughters and sons of our Heavenly Father and honoring Him in our hearts by being obedient to His Word.  God also knows what we need and will also heal our broken hearts as we continue to follow Him.

The next question might be asked, “Well how important is this really to God?”  It was so important Jesus spoke these words while on the cross before He died as a fulfillment of these things: 

Luke 23:34

Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." NKJV

Jesus not only forgave and loved his enemies he also died for them as well.  If there is someone in your life that has hurt you please ask God to help you to forgive them, love them and pray for them.  Then your own healing will come.  Don’t let Satan or your flesh get a foothold of your heart through bitterness.  Allow God to set you free and the bible says, He who the son sets free is free indeed!

Filoiann Wiedenhoff