Hard sayings of Jesus - Love your enemies

"God I forgive but you teach them a lesson"... Have you ever thought or prayed like that? Have you ever thought or asked God to punish your "enemies"? Or that they will, "reap the consequences of their acts"? I have done so many times, especially when the torrent of attacks keep coming like a flood and there's no end in sight. But the scriptures made me small again. Discern the difference of what is carnal and what is of the Spirit. Listen to the words of Jesus.


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;

The Bible is full of paradoxes, in the sense its opposite to the normal human way of thinking. In some cases, it even makes one to wonder if following the scriptures to the letter is humanly possible or even practical. This is especially so when you are the victim and all that is in your mind is revenge. Is it possible to love someone who has destroyed and tarnished everything that |one possess? In the verse above Jesus introduces another of such contradictions.

The normal human philosophy is to kill and destroy the enemy. Otherwise we cannot survive, humanly and militarily speaking. But Jesus reverses the order with no exclusion clauses added. What did Jesus mean when he said love your enemies? A few practical aspects are mentioned by our Lord:

• Bless them
• Do good to them
• Pray for them

That is already hard enough to comply but when I looked at the scriptures, I found that the word love used in the above text, is the same word used to describe the love between God the Father and God the Son and the same word used to describe the love God had for you and me, when he offered His son on the cross of Calvary. The love that was willing to suffer humiliation, and torture at the hands of His creation and that had the fortitude to say, "Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing." The same love which said , " If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also." It is love in the purest form. Think with me for a moment. If there is a moral God, how can He remain silent when a sinless man was crucified to the cross? That's probably why the disciples went back to fishing after the crucifixion . They just could not simply understand how could God ever keep quiet when a just person is being murdered. But this was love at its highest form. He remained silent, Romans 5:6-8 - When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

A very similar word used by Paul when he describes the attributes of this character in 1 Cor 13 . This really hit me hard because the standard that Jesus has laid is even higher that what I thought was "already very good" in the eyes of the world.

If I really want to obey what the Word of God tells , it will mean that I will have to die to myself, my feelings and my pride and my own paradigms.The Lord said if we want to be called the sons of God, then we need to follow His standard and not what we would like to set.

Paul's standard of love is, 1 Cor 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.

Another checklist that Jesus offered is in Matthew 7:12 - So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Corrie ten Boom and the Nazi Guard

Years after her experience in a Nazi Germany concentration camp, Corrie ten Boom found herself standing face to face with one of the most cruel and heartless German guards she had ever met in the camps. This man had humiliated and degraded both her and her sister, jeering at them and visually "raping" them as they stood in the delousing shower.

Now he stood before her with an outstretched hand, asking, "Will you forgive me?"

Corrie said, "I stood there with coldness clutching at my heart, but I know that the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I prayed, "Jesus, help me!" Woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me and I experienced an incredible thing. The current started in my shoulder, raced down into my arm and sprang into our clutched hands. Then this warm reconciliation seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. 'I forgive you, brother,' I cried with my whole heart. For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard, the former prisoner. I have never known the love of God so intensely as I did in that moment!"

When we forgive we set a prisoner free -- ourselves.

The Message Bible renders Matthew 5: 43-47 in this manner:

You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

Do we have enemies? Love them. Follow His standards and His example. Let each decide if he is truly the child of God, in the light of the above scriptures