I want to talk about this topic today because it helps to uphold what Authentic Faith stands for: showing what my walk with the Lord looks like at all times, through both the good and the bad. This topic has been put on my heart by God lately, and I decided that if I was going to spend a lot of time researching this, it would be something I would love to have on the blog for you all as well. Before I start, I do want to clarify who would be considered an “enemy”. I disregarded verses about enemies for a long time, because there’s nobody I would go to a sword duel with (yes, you can laugh). An enemy is anyone that is hostile towards you, or you are hostile towards. An enemy can also be someone that you don’t like, and gets on your nerves. This could be a classmate that makes fun of you, maybe a parent that doesn’t show love, or someone that used to be a friend but (for one reason or another) is now not your friend. There are many examples, but please don’t read this and count yourself out, because I promise you that there is at least one person in your life that you need to learn how to love. We are all this way.
When the topic of enemies is brought up, what the Bible has to say is completely different from what the world encourages us to do. When someone wrongs you or hurts you, social media tells us to be mad at them, get revenge, and gossip all about them to ruin their life. Music tells us to yell at them, key their car, and get with your ex’s best friend. Even though we have been told that this isn’t right, it can be really easy to get sucked into it all and have a bad heart attitude. I feel as if it is natural for people to desire some sort of revenge when they are wronged, but that doesn’t mean that it is right. Not only that, but it will never truly fulfill you or heal your heart.
As Christians, our commands are the complete opposite. We are told to love our enemies. Not ignore them, not tolerate them, but love them. Jesus said this about the topic on the Sermon on the Plain in the book of Luke:
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from the one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners to do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:27-36)
I know that this is a lot to digest, but I am going to break it down a bit so that we can get a better understanding of what this means. The first paragraph of this passage is a good example of what we know as the Golden Rule: do to others as you wish they would do to you. This is a non-exclusive rule, so we don’t get a pass when it comes to our enemies. If you read the first paragraph again, you’ll even see how strong some of the language is when it comes to loving your enemies. We are told to do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and to pray for those who abuse you. This is some serious stuff, so let me say that again. We are told to pray for those who abuse you. Abuse can look like a few different things, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and none of them are positive. I know people who have dealt with abuse from people, and it is a real battle that this world faces. As hard as it seems to be obedient to God’s command here, remember that Christians are called to live in a backwards kingdom, because we should not reflect the world.
The world tells us to handle this by getting revenge, gossiping, and many other hateful things. However, we as Christians are told to pray for them! Supplication through prayer is a way that we can ask God to provide for us or for others, and this is what we should be doing for our enemies: asking for the Lord to fulfill their needs and provide for them. This is the complete opposite of what we are told to do by the world (again, think “backwards kingdom”).
Praying for my enemies is something that God has been convicting me about for the last few weeks, and I can testify that it completely shifts my mindset and helps me to love my enemies. There have been some people in the last year or so that have really hurt me and have caused a lot of spiritual and mental setbacks in my life, and praying over them is an amazing way for me to learn to love them instead of hating them.
Before this, I spent a lot of time hating these people. I felt like the world justified my hating them, and that I didn’t have to love them if I didn’t want to. The music I listened to, and the things I said, reflected hatred instead of God’s everlasting love, and even though I looked for healing in these things, I never felt whole while sitting in this hatred. After way too long of seeking healing this way, God showed me that we are not called to hate those that hate us. “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:9). Once I realized that I was called to bless those that hurt me, my whole perspective changed. Instead of wishing that every part of their life would go wrong, I began to ask God to provide for them and give them peace in things that I knew they were going through. I am learning to stop gossiping about them and sullying their name, because my tongue can cause a lot of pain if I am not careful. The transition from hating those that hurt me to loving them, even if they never noticed or were there to see it, is what brought me to a good point in my healing process. Through this, as well as some other Bible-led tactics, I was able to let go and forgive while moving on to what God has next for me.
Praying over my enemies and those that have caused me hurt have started to become a part of my daily routine, and I start my mornings by asking God to provide for them that day. This helps to turn my mind towards the pursuit of the Lord immediately before I can begin to be swayed by things like social media, music, and my classmates. I am not perfect, obviously, and I have days where I still think things and feel things that don’t please the Lord, but He is teaching me how to love my enemies.
“But I, when they were sick - I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.” (Psalm 35:13-14)
The second paragraph of the excerpt from Luke 6 begins to talk more about loving all people, enemies included. I think everyone would agree with me if I said that it is easy to love those that love you. It’s fun sometimes too, right? When somebody is showing you the Lord’s faithful love, reciprocating it isn’t too difficult, because it feels like it doesn’t take that much effort, and we want to repay the kindness that we were given.
However, the Bible speaks to this, and calls us one step further than that. Not only should we love those that love us, but we need to love our enemies, and it says to do good to them. In this, our actions, thoughts, and words should all be reflective of Jesus and how he would treat them.
This was another big eye-opener for me. If I look at the people that hurt me, I want to withhold forgiveness, and don’t see any reason to love them. However, we need to remember that the people that we see that hurt us, are the people that Jesus went to die on the cross to save. This last Sunday was Easter, and we were able to reflect on all that Jesus went through to secure our salvation and future in heaven while celebrating the resurrection. As amazing as it is to remember that He died for us, He also died for the people that have caused you grief and pain in the past. The Lord looks at them and sees someone that was fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), and has been loved since the beginning of time by the Creator. If we want to love our enemies, we need to see them from the perspective of God.
If we are learning how to see all people from a Godly perspective, we also need to learn how to love and forgive them the way God does. The Lord’s Prayer immediately comes to mind, where Matthew 6:12,14-15 says “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Remember that God forgave us of all of our sins when He sacrificed Jesus to die on the cross, which is something that we would never have been able to pay for ourselves. He forgave every single one of our sins, and if we desire to be more like Jesus, then we need to forgive our enemies of the times we have been hurt by them. This is so freeing, because when I did it, I began to see those people the way God does, and my anger dissipated.
I also want to acknowledge that forgiveness is a process, and is often more complicated than just saying “I forgive you”. It takes a lot of time in prayer with God and in the Word, and it took a lot of time for me to get to a place where the forgiveness was genuine, and not just something I felt obligated to do. Ask the Lord to help you forgive them, and make sure you are aligning yourself with things above, because that is the only way to be able to forgive people in your heart.
---
I hope that this was able to give you some insight on your life, especially if this is something that you are struggling with right now. Forgiving people isn’t easy, and showing them the love of God is even harder. Be patient with yourself, and the biggest piece of encouragement I could give you is to be in constant prayer. Make it a habit of praying over your enemies every morning and night, and ask God to show you how to forgive. If you have any questions or comments, there are many ways on the blog’s website and social media to reach out, and I would love to hear from you! Thank you again for your continued support and love, and I pray that this would be impactful for you and help make you more like Jesus.
Comments