Love your .... enemy

 Jesus said, “Love your enemy.”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor 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. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ... “ Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)

We often ask when reading scriptures, so who is my neighbor or who is my brother?  But do we ever ask, who is my enemy?  If you’re like me, you’d be hard pressed to name anyone as a personal “enemy.”  I mean someone I hate, or someone that I know wishes me harm – that would be an enemy.  Right?

I read something recently about loving your “Political” enemies and was struck by how easy it was to identify that person, or party or group, or country.  Wow!  If I am going to Love my neighbor and my enemy, that will include - heaven forbid – those people who stand for things that I don’t support.  It would include people who stand in opposition to my firmly held political beliefs, my religious convictions, and my faith.

It is not up to me to “hate” another person, no matter what they do to me, or what they stand for.  Jesus says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  So there is not an “if they” or an “unless” in His teaching.  He just says, “do it.”

That’s a lot to think about.  I’m afraid that, in this world of anger and strife and hatred between people who disagree with each other, it’s very hard to feel love for others.  But love is NOT a feeling, it’s an action.  So I must be careful of my tongue, what I say about people I disagree with, or what slogan I post on my car or my blog, because those actions show where my heart is.

I appreciated what our minister said this morning about praying for those in our government by name, asking God to bless them in whatever way pleases Him.  So that is my plan – because it’s God’s plan.

Love,

Diane