“It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.” — Gandhi
So much of what we read in the Bible makes perfect and intuitive sense.
We memorize verses, frame them on our walls, tattoo them to our bodies. We commit them to the very core of our beings, quote them to anyone who might listen and use them as guiding lights to our ongoing struggles of life.
But then there are passages that challenge even the most ardent of Christians, that give us a moment of real pause and reflection I’d argue that Matthew 5:43–48 is right up there with the most arduous.
Matthew 5:43–48 (NKJV) — 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[ and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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.46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Now before we dive into the meat of this scripture, some brief context.
This is a section from the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most widely quoted and arguably most famous example of the words of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, spanning three full chapters of the gospel of Matthew. The Sermon on the Mount contains the Beatitudes and also the Lord’s Prayer as well as a series of instructions for Christians everywhere on some critical and important topics.
I’m sure as you read this your enemies — real or perceived, an interesting distinction — spring to mind with relative ease. I know they do for me and I can (sadly) get quite self-righteous about it too. One enemy in particular, comes to mind if I’m honest: someone who I never in a million years expected to be an adversary but sometimes that’s how life goes. I imagine a few of you reading this could write a fairly robust list of folks you consider enemies. Some of you probably pictured a face or two immediately when you saw the title of this devotional. Enemies are a sorry fact of life but it’s how we deal with them that counts and thankfully the Bible explains.
Simply put, we live in a broken world where concepts like anger, bitterness and resentment dominate the daily discourse. Just watch an hour of the news if you don’t believe me or take a peek at the political landscape. And we inhabit a universe where hate often shouts the longest and loudest. So, a concept like loving our enemies feels alien — almost absurd in this context. I’m meant to love someone who actively doesn’t have my best interests at heart. What? And yeah, maybe there were two words omitted there after that “what”.
Why, then, should we love our enemies?
Well, the obvious answer is because the Bible — and specifically Jesus — tells us to do in no uncertain terms.
Matthew 5:43–45 (NKJV) — 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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.
A couple things to note here — firstly that the sun rises and the rain falls on all of us regardless of who we are or what we do — good or evil. It’s a good reminder. But secondly, and more importantly, we need to love our enemies so that we may be children of our Father in heaven.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV) — And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
And let’s be fair, with our enemies, most of us probably need a renewing of the mind. I know I do. So, loving your enemies is a concept for which we need divine intervention. In the natural, we essentially can’t do it but with God’s help — anything is possible.
Another reason for loving our enemies is that God showed us how to do this first through sending Jesus to be the reconciliation for our sins.
Romans 5:10 (NKJV) — For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Colossians 1:21 (NKJV) — 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
As always, God showed us the way and gave us the template to follow — all in his perfect and intimate design.
It’s also crucial to consider with this in mind that God loves your enemies — even those who’ve behaved truly despicably to you — just as much as he loves you. You can’t accept that God loves you without also accepting he loves people you don’t like.
But how, you ask, do we bring this into our daily lives?
Well, as children of God, we need to pray for our enemies. Prayer is an act of mercy and not only that, but prayer also changes our hearts. If I’m honest when I pray for my enemies, I don’t have a lot to say. I pray for them to be happy and that’s about all I’ve got. I’m trying and I’m a work in progress and it isn’t easy, but I attempt to do it. But pray we must.
So, this week, make it a goal to pray for your enemies. It might feel a bit unnatural at first but keep doing it because it’s the right thing to do.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that … Hate is too great a burden to bear.” Martin Luther King