But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:44-45 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.5.44-45.KJV
Lord God please help me to not hate.
C.S. Lewis speaks directly to this passage in his book, "Mere Christianity." It's a fairly thin book, as books go, but it is very dense and requires slow, attentive reading. He used a lot of metaphors and similes to make his point, and it can be intellectually challenging, but it's worth reading.
great book, also loved Screwtape letters and Great Divorce.
Screwtape should be REQUIRED reading in any Christian ( of any denomination) grade school.
agree, such a different perspective on how to make a man fall. So many different types of sin that can lead away from God.
Hate does nothing to stop the "enemy", and eats away at our own goodness, hate can change us on a cellular level. Satan rejoices when our minds have gone to hate and revenge, that is exactly where he wants us, seething in the dark, instead of rejoicing in God's light. Jesus was able to love and forgive his murderers, he asks us to follow in his example so that we can be free. Pray for the enemy for God to touch them in their heart, HE is the only judge and his mind has been made up, and we have no idea what is in the mind of God. Pray for all , it is what we can do, and I believe it pleases our Father.
Amen!
When I compare life before Jesus to life after Jesus came into my heart....this scripture becomes easier for me to live. We all have fallen short and need Jesus
What does loving an enemy LOOK like? Bless them. Pray for them. What are some other, practical actions we could take to show love for them?
Tell them the truth. The woke are our enemies until they wake up.
Truth in love. Truth always precedes love. Truth is essential to the manifestation of love.
Arrange a meeting where they can meet their maker? Kek my bad
Yes, we need to try to stop evil not hate it. Yelling insults at them doesn't stop evil. Calm debate and unyielding defense of truth tend to convince people.
We are taught to love everyone but to hate the sin. Most challenging thing for us to do I would say.
Pedos get the rope, but otherwise, I'm working on it...
Loving thy enemy doesn't mean letting them get away with committing evil. You can still kill your enemy and love them if it means saving children for example.
Hence being better off with a millstone around the neck at the bottom of the ocean when harming children.
BOOM! (mike drop)
Proverbs 13:24
At times to show others you love them you have to rebuke them. One might say rebuking evil is a blessing.
To enable evil people to harm children knowingly — is that not being on the side of evil?
Very interesting intersections of compassion. The meek inherit the earth for a reason.
The Bible very clearly says that we should love our enemies. The Bible explains who we are to love. However the Bible also says,
"Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate Yahweh? therefore is wrath upon thee from before Yahweh." 2 Chronicles 19:2
King David, a man after God's own heart, said, Psalm 139:21-24 "Do I not hate them, O Yahweh, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."
James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
2 John is virtually ignored today. 2 John 1:7, 9-11 "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
The Bible therefore teaches that we should love our enemies, but hate the enemies of our Savior, Christ.
Hate the sin but love the sinner. Hard to do at times. We are imperfect.
The most stunning example of forgiveness I can think of, next to Jesus, is the example of St. Maria Goretti and her murderer. It's a model to think about. This priest narrates it very well. BTW this priest was an atheist, became a Catholic, then a priest, then an expert in holy relics, then an exorcist. So his life too is full of changes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjuZJQdEcdg