How Can I Really Love My Enemies?
January 5 Some might ask how can I love my enemies? If they hurt me don't I have a right to hurt them back? It's called retaliation and often used to justify a whole range of equally hurtful responses. But Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says we should love our enemies and even wish them well. What? Really Jesus? Many read this as a new law thinking they have to do this whether they like it or not. Just grin and bear it for these rotten people. If we do this we miss Jesus' point. We will probably fail too. Jesus is describing the kind of person who follows him and what it is like to operate in a different kind of power. In Psalm 110 The Lord says essentially the same thing. He says to King David, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." Note it is until God makes his enemies a footstool, that is where the power and judgment come.
Who is your enemy today? Who deserves your retaliation? Who could you justify returning to them what they did to you? Take time and pray that you might operate in a different mindset, the One of Jesus. He showed a greater power beyond himself when he loved his enemies and prayed for them. As we live out this counter cultural ethic, it will show the world what a true follower of Jesus looks like.
Psalm 110 (Prayers for the king); Proverbs 22:1-9 (The generous are blessed); Luke 6:27-31 (Do to others as you would have them do to you) (New International version)
Psalm 110
Of David. A psalm.
1 The Lord says to my lord:[a]
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.[b]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand[c];
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way,[d]
and so he will lift his head high.
Proverbs 22:1-9
22 A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
2 Rich and poor have this in common:
The Lord is the Maker of them all.
3 The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
4 Humility is the fear of the Lord;
its wages are riches and honor and life.
5 In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,
but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.
6 Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,
and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.
9 The generous will themselves be blessed,
for they share their food with the poor.
Luke 6:27-31
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Who is your enemy today? Who deserves your retaliation? Who could you justify returning to them what they did to you? Take time and pray that you might operate in a different mindset, the One of Jesus. He showed a greater power beyond himself when he loved his enemies and prayed for them. As we live out this counter cultural ethic, it will show the world what a true follower of Jesus looks like.
Psalm 110 (Prayers for the king); Proverbs 22:1-9 (The generous are blessed); Luke 6:27-31 (Do to others as you would have them do to you) (New International version)
Psalm 110
Of David. A psalm.
1 The Lord says to my lord:[a]
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.[b]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand[c];
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way,[d]
and so he will lift his head high.
Proverbs 22:1-9
22 A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
2 Rich and poor have this in common:
The Lord is the Maker of them all.
3 The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
4 Humility is the fear of the Lord;
its wages are riches and honor and life.
5 In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls,
but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.
6 Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity,
and the rod they wield in fury will be broken.
9 The generous will themselves be blessed,
for they share their food with the poor.
Luke 6:27-31
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
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