Loving Our Enemies

"But I tell you who hear me. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also....But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:27-28a, 35-36 NIV

Wow! This is a hard one isn't it? In our world today on social media and the news we see a lot of anger, hate and those seeking revenge on others. Many people seem to want to hurt others with their words and their actions. And then Jesus says these words!

Love your enemies! If they strike you on one cheek, then turn the other to them also...I don't know about you but if someone strikes me on my cheek, I want to strike back! Yet, Jesus tells us to turn our other cheek to them also!

Why does Jesus say this? Jesus wasn't talking about having affection for enemies, he was talking about an act of the will. You can't "fall into" this kind of love - it takes conscious effort. Loving our enemies means acting in their best interests. We can pray for them. We can think of ways to help them.

Help them? Pray for them? Jesus do you really mean we have to do this?

I remember several years ago I got a phone call at 2:00 am in the morning and it was some guy telling me everything he wanted to do to my granddaughter! He texted me her name and knew my phone number and I was in a panic! All I wanted to do was go protect my granddaughter from this unknown enemy, I know in that moment if I had found out who it was I would have made sure he was put away in prison for a very long time.

Jesus tells me that I have to pray for him and do what is this person's best interest?

What I will say is that thankfully nothing happened and I believe it was more about getting to me rather than my granddaughter. However, do I pray for him? I pray that he finds Jesus and seeks to turn from his wicked ways. I pray that he never has the chance to actually hurt a child. I pray that if he is inclined to do so that the police find him and arrest him, for the children's safety and his own safety.

Praying for him does not mean I have to accept his behavior. Praying for him does not mean that he gets off scott free. Praying for him is giving my feelings up to God and letting God handle this situation as I did not know who he was.

Loving our enemies comes down to this...pray for them. Pray that they find Jesus and accept Him as their Lord and Savior,

Loving our enemies is giving them a blanket when they are cold, food to eat when they are hungry, and water to drink when they are thirsty. Ultimately it is praying for them to have a change of heart and live for Jesus. When they do this they will become free from the anger and behaviors of this world that bind them causing them to say and do harmful things to others!

Jesus died on the cross for everyone! Even those who are our enemies!

Praying for us all! Amen and Amen!