Good morning,
Love your neighbor and . . .
Our Enemy is doing his best to get God’s children to think of themselves as living in a world filled with fear and hate. We are flooded with stories of angry, hate filled people who attack innocent people without warning. He wants us to feel that we are surrounded by danger and the only way to be safe is to hide or to get ‘them’ before they get ‘us.’ Jesus himself warned us that, If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.(John15:18) The normal human response to hatred is to hate back. So the religious leaders of Jesus’ day gave God’s commandment, to love your neighbor, a little twist. Their version was, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. They took God’s holy command and gave it a deadly twist. When we use the enemy’s weapons to try to defend ourselves, we will always come away from the battle bloodied and defeated. When we hate someone we have stopped seeing them as part of God’s creation and plan, and we will see them as an object we must destroy in order to feel safe again. Satan does his best to get us to forget that the only people that God loves, are all by nature, his enemies to begin with.
Jesus countered their twisted truth with a very clear command. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Jesus isn’t controlled by hate, he is controlled by love. Jesus doesn’t want to destroy people, he wants to save people. The power of God’s love is far stronger than any form of hate or fear. When Jesus was dying on the cross to pay the price for our sins, what did he say? Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.(Luke 23:34) He prayed that way because he is the God who loves his creation. If we are his children, shouldn’t we be doing the same thing? In the same passage in Matthew, Jesus made it very clear what God thinks of those who call themselves Christians but refuse his command to love, pray and forgive those who are facing their enemies. He said, If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.(vs.46,47) If we really are God’s children, God’s Holy Spirit will give us that heavenly love for those who hate us. That’s why we pray. He gives us that love and understanding when we refuse to listen to our fears and instead ask God for the same power and love he had as he hung on that cruel cross. Dear Lord, please help us to love like you loved and forgive like you forgave, so that the world around us will have a living picture of what the God of the universe is really like.
Matthew 5:43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
Roy Wisner
