Loving Your Enemy
A practical Christian study of “Loving Your Enemy,” with clear application for faith, relationships, and everyday life.
Season 4, Episode 51 · Loving Your Enemy
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The story behind the idea
If I have identified this person, maybe for you it's someone in your family, someone even among God's people, or certainly someone in the world who opposes you for your faith in the Lord, how do we go about loving those people? Because I have to tell you, my natural way to address that does not work very often.
What stands out
In those cases, which sometimes shows up in the family or in the church, they simply do not want to listen or change, and so they repudiate everything you stand for. I just think personally it hurts a lot more when we're talking about people who proclaim the love of Jesus in their lives. Sometimes just staying away from them, just going on with your life is not only the best recourse, it's the only one.
Why it matters
There certainly might be people who don't like you or who don't understand you. There may be people very close to you who do not treat you well, but in terms of the enemies that God's people have faced throughout the centuries, we are very blessed. I'm not making light of the emotional burden that you bear, or the hatred among family that even Jesus talks about being very painful. I am thankful to say that I know of very few people who want to hurt me or want God to hurt me because of who I am.
A faithful way forward
Something like we find in Galatians 5 may be enmity or strife or jealousy or outbursts of anger, or disputes or dissensions or factions or envying. It's kind of like we say about bullies, bullies should not be hurting other people. When you recognize that, their behavior still has to be curbed and there must be consequences, but ultimately finding out what healing they need and feeling some sense of compassion for their at least probable brokenness is a more Christ-like approach.
Put it into practice
Number nine, pray with those you love, and then finally, pray for those who don't love you. Jesus did this so incredibly on the cross where true enemies were ending his life. Stephen, while being stoned to death, was able to do the very same thing as a Christian in the book of Acts.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
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