Karen Clark writes:
How do I love my enemies?
Enemies? Me? I don’t have enemies? Perhaps not exactly - but I was challenged to think of someone who had annoyed me or hurt me recently or just got in the way of my plans.
Can you think of someone like that?
Matthew 5:43-45 says “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour 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.”
So how do I love my enemies?
Here are some ways we might consider:
John Piper writes “Prayer for your enemies is one of the deepest forms of love, because it means that you have to really want that something good happen to them. You might do nice things for your enemy without any genuine desire that things go well with them. But prayer for them is in the presence of God who knows your heart, and prayer is interceding with God on their behalf. It may be for their conversion. It may be for their repentance. It may be that they would be awakened to the enmity in their hearts. It may be that they will be stopped in their downward spiral of sin, even if it takes disease or calamity to do it. But the prayer Jesus has in mind here is always for their good”
Sue encouraged us too on Wednesday night to think about loving them, not with a mushy sentimental love, but in light of the verses from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
And lastly, following Jesus own example – as he hung on the cross, his prayer was “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
So how do we love our enemies?
Matthew 5:11-12 says “Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
We can love our enemies by Rejoicing: fixing our eyes on eternal things… on the hope that awaits us in heaven… on the relationship we have with Jesus… rather than focusing on the way we are treated here.
To listen to Sue’s talk from Matthew 5:33-48 check out the women to women recordings on the website:
