Loving Your 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” (Luke 6:27–28).

Today, we think of love as a passive reaction to things we like. But in the Bible, love is an active intention. Love is something commanded, and in general it means to seek the good of someone else. However, it is the Bible that tells us what that “good” is.

There is a story about a meeting of Christian scholars and pastors. One of the men present at the meeting became upset with an elderly scholar. He began to abuse him rather nastily, implying all sorts of bad things about his character. After he had finished speaking, the elderly gentleman looked at him and calmly said, “Sir, you are slandering me.” Instantly the other man realized what he had been doing was wrong, and asked forgiveness. This is an example of a loving response because by rebuking him, the elderly gentleman was doing the other man a kindness.

When Jesus tells us to bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who mistreat us, He is not asking something absurd. We are not to ask that God heap prosperity and power upon those who are wicked. Rather, we have to let the Bible show us what it means to bless the wicked.

Many of the psalms have to do with the enemies of God’s people. David prays that God would bring the wicked to ruin, and in Psalm 139 he writes, “If only you would slay the wicked, O God!… Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies” (Psalm 139:19–22).

David’s hatred does not have in it an ultimate desire for the ruination of the soul of the evildoer. Rather, David knew it was when God chastised him that he repented and was saved; and he prays the same for his enemies. In this, we see that “doing good” to our enemies does not exclude seeing to it that the wicked are punished for their crimes.

How many marriages fall apart today because people no longer “feel in love” with each other? The Bible says love is an act of the will, expressed in deeds, even when warm feelings are temporarily absent. We are commanded to love our neighbors and even our enemies. There are people today who need you to express love to them. Out of obedience to God, seek their good.

True Love in the Kingdom

'Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves" (Romans 12:9–10).

Another way to translate the first sentence of verse 9 is this: “Let love be without hypocrisy.” The Greek word for hypocrisy, a form of which is used here, means “playacting.” Our love for one another must not be a form of playacting, but must be genuine and authentic. Christians sometimes get a reputation for coming across as plastic and syrupy, because sometimes we get into a habit of using pious phrases that sound phony. People don’t want to hear cliches and jargon. What they want to see, and what they need to see, is real love and real concern.

Paul follows up his command to love with a command to hate. We are to find evil things odious and to hate them. If we really love people, we will hate the evil that they do, which destroys them and those around them. Paul helps us to see what hating evil means when he writes, “cling to what is good.” The opposite of clinging is rejecting, hurling something far from us. We are to hurl away evil with all our might as we cling to what is good.

Paul continues to expound this idea of “clinging” in verse 10: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” What does it mean for me to be devoted to someone? It means to care about his well-being and to apply myself to his needs. It means sacrificing my comfort and privileges in order to help him.

Practically, Paul writes: “Honor one another above yourselves.” Each of us loves to be honored, and there is nothing wrong with enjoying honors. We have a tendency, however, to be envious of the honors that come to others. Paul strikes at this vainglorious tendency and tells us that a practical test of our devotion to one another is whether we really rejoice when others are honored.

Do you rejoice when others are honored, or do you find a hidden resentment in your heart when someone close to you receives high praise? Even more to the point, do you take delight in praising others? When was the last time you praised those close to you for a job well done? Establish a goal of affirming someone each day both in your workplace and home.