TO LOVE OR NOT TO LOVE?

            In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45) It can be difficult to love our enemies, and Jesus’ command to forgive them may seem impossible.

            But the decision to love or not love is ours to make. Only God can require us to love others, and only we can decide whether or not we will do it. But why would God tell us to do love our persecutors, and how can we possibly do that?

Love has many elements, including the decision not to hate. Loving our enemies doesn’t mean we have to like them, but that we set aside our anger over what they have done to us. Loving our enemies means we decide not to vilify them. It means treating them as humans because we, too, are human. But it doesn’t mean we have to invite them to lunch.

Praying for our enemies helps us and them. One of the purposes of prayer is to release us from the prison of anger. Anger can a terrible jailer, but relaxing our hardened attitude towards someone can truly help us. When we do, Jesus says we are being children of God. If God can love even the worst sinner, with His grace, we can too.

We all have enemies, even if they personally have never hurt us. I don’t like certain groups which target my fellow Christians, blowing them up with bombs or condemning them publicly or making their lives more difficult with frivolous laws, regulations or lawsuits. But Christians have had to endure enemies throughout history. Christ tells us to love and forgive them. Following His Word makes life easier in the long run.

Who can you forgive today? How can you replace your hatred with love or caring? Jesus is our Savior. Thanks be to God He forgives us and doesn’t treat us like we treat each other.

Lord Jesus, help us forgive others wherever it is needed. Amen

Rev. Bob Tasler      (View all my published words at : www.bobtasler.com)