“’You have heard that it was said.’ “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” 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 and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’” (Matthew 5:43-45 NKJV)
What is the difference between love and hate in practical terms? Think about it – hate pushes away, despises, is repulsed by whatever or whoever it hates. Hate is filled with contempt that isn’t satisfied to let it lie but must embrace and act on our strong dislike or aversion. It’s to bear malice that wants to do someone else harm, to see them suffer for what we perceive as an injustice against us or someone else. We look down with disgust and loathe it/them with utter abhorrence. (Merriam-Websters)
Think of men like Hitler, those who orchestrate and/or participate in mass shootings, bombings, or other attempts to take the lives of people who have done nothing to provoke anyone. Every day in our world people are mercilessly murdered for being the “wrong” _______, and you can fill in the blank. Are we to hate them? “No!” Some would protest, but we’re to hate what they do.
While there’s merit in that, it’s not enough. Hate for hate isn’t a solution, regardless of its focus. The only antidote for hatred is love, but how? It’s easy to love our loving neighbor, but it’s a different story if our neighbor is an antichrist. Unfortunately, too often our “solution” is to simply avoid them, but, again, that’s not a Christ-acceptable answer. So, what do we do?
We love them! But how? Remember, love isn’t an emotion, it’s a decision. Emotion fuels hatred but right-thinking fuels love. Jesus didn’t go to the Cross because He was feeling warm and fuzzy, He made a decision to go because it needed to be done, and He was the only One who could do it.
If there’s someone in your life you’re being tempted to hate, make the decision today to love them instead. But how? Intelligent good will! That’s essentially what love is. It’s a decision, not only NOT to do them harm or foster ill-will towards them, but to actually initiate loving ways to reach them for the Lord.
That’s IMPOSSIBLE! It may seem to be, but please listen, not to your heart, but to your mind as the Words of God resonate Truth. God NEVER tells us to do something He doesn’t equip us to do. If He tells us to love our enemies, He’ll give us the means. Jesus said in Luke 18:27: “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”
While the context was a little different, the principle is exactly the same. God can equip and enable us to be and do things that are otherwise humanly impossible. It may seem impossible to do something kind and right for a person whose presence disgusts us but think of how God viewed us before we were cleansed by His priceless blood. Until we get a grasp on how disgusting, vile, and ugly we were as we wallowed in our sin, we’ll never understand how we can love someone else who in our eyes is disgusting, vile, and ugly. Jesus isn’t asking us to hug and kiss them, just not to actively and overtly seek them harm.
So, what CAN we do? We can pray for them. And, no, not: “Jesus, bless them!” That’s a cop-out. Pray for them with thoughtful, meaningful words that convey to the Lord genuine empathy and concern. In short, pray like someone prayed for you before you knew Jesus.
Please remember: Hate debilitates. Love liberates.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 