Loving People Who Don’t Love You

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44).

Late American singer, Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010), sang the song with the lyrics, “It’s so good, loving somebody, and that somebody loves you back”. It is not only good but it is also very easy to love those we know, and those who love us too. But to love our enemies? Now, that’s a tough one. Now, you just might be imagining loving that bully in school; that work colleague that told lies against you; that neighbour that keeps gossiping about you; those brethren that humiliate you in church every Sunday, etc. Love them? Noooo way!

The Enemy

Dictionary.com describes an enemy thus: “a person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another; an adversary or opponent; an armed foe; an opposing military force…” This is the same character that Jesus’ instructs us to love. Yes, they hate you, but you…love them. Yes, they are nasty to you, but you…love them. Yes, they are obnoxious but you…love them. And yes, Jesus said so.

According to Jesus

Jesus must have stunned his audience when He delivered the Bible verse above. There is no Old Testament Law anywhere that teaches us to hate our enemies. God hated the religion of the pagan nations, but hating our enemies was not part of the Law of God. It was not taught in the Old Testament, and it was not taught by Jesus Christ. He asked us to love our enemies, not hate them.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was notorious for shattering the cultural norms of the day. He spoke with a Samaritan woman, a people despised by the Jews, which would have been unheard of in those days (John 4). The Jews regarded them as a half-breed and traitors and avoided them totally. But Jesus, reduced all such cultural norms to nothing, and said “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28).

Reward Evil with Good

The Apostle Paul instructed the Christians in Rome to never avenge themselves against their persecutors, but, “To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:20).

Doing good to an enemy is a godly response to hatred. Remember that while we were still yet “enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” which is contrary to human nature because “one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die” (Romans 5:7-10a), but to die for one’s enemy, and an ungodly, wicked one at that? Pretty difficult but that is what distinguishes us as believers.

How to Respond to Hate

James and John were not called the Sons of Thunder for nothing. The Bible records that they actually wanted to call down fire down from heaven to consume the village which rejected Jesus but Jesus rebuked them for that (Luke 9:54-56). They had probably forgotten that Jesus said, “whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

The Book of Proverbs, in the Old Testament, says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21-22). We are also told in Luke 6:35, “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”. That’s like killing them with love. Instead of hate making you bitter, love makes you better!!!

Love is God’s Character

Jesus calls us to a new standard, a higher standard – we are to raise the bar! The world may have made it popular to dislike those who hurt and hate us but we must not toe that line. We are made of sterner stuff. We have our DNA lined with love which comes from God, our Maker – the embodiment of love. Where they hate us…we love them! Jesus taught us to demonstrate love to all kinds of people—no matter what faith, nationality, or personality—enemies included. When we love our enemies, we truly reveal that Jesus is Lord of our life.

Conclusion

We should not give our enemies what they deserve….we give them what they need, and what they need is love. It takes uncommon grace to understand how we can love those who don’t love us. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can truly love and pray for those who wish us nothing else but harm (Romans 12:14-21). Remember, the Holy Spirit is our Teacher (John 14:26) and He is ever-available to unravel every mystery of life. So, you can love your enemies without reservation.

(With excerpts from Jack Wellman’s “What The Bible Teaches About Loving Our Enemies”)