But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
Love your enemies. To people who don’t know Jesus, that sounds crazy! Even those of us who believe may struggle with that from time to time. It took a while for me to understand how important it is to love and pray for my enemies. There are still times when I have to read scripture to remind myself; I have to love and pray for people who hate me. But the more you do it, the better you feel. When you love people who consider themselves enemies, you take away their power over you. More importantly, you strip the devil of one of his greatest weapons – contention. The devil loves contention. He uses it to influence and manipulate us. You see, contention breeds hate and discontent. Without hate and discontent, the devil is powerless.
“I say to you, love your enemies” – Love them. Amen! .The real truth, brothers and sisters, is we have no enemies when we are truly in the body of Christ. We are washed in the blood of the Lamb; which means nothing can touch our souls or take our salvation away. Sure, we have people who are unsaved, and full of hate, that consider themselves our enemies, and they can do us physical harm. But, we who believe, know that this world means nothing; For we will one day dwell in the kingdom of the Lord, for eternity.
Now, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t defend ourselves or more importantly, defend our Lord. No it doesn’t. What it means is… we will not allow evil to occupy our hearts by allowing ourselves to hate others. Of course, we must allow God to dictate when, where, and how to defend ourselves and our Lord. For only God can keep our crooked path straight. And, we must always remember -“Vengeance is Mine, …” says the Lord. Do not seek revenge. The Lord allows us to defend, but He does not want us to offend.
Love your enemies and you shall strip them of power. I pray for mine three times a day.
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lord will reward you.
Praise God! For He is good and His mercy endures forever. Amen!
Love In Christ,
Randall
For further study, read Matthew 5:43-48