Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:27- “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.

Yesterday we were reminded of the greatest example of love that has been shown to each of us, and that was through the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Not only did he show us love by laying down his own life for us, but also by enduring a horrific beating leading up to his death. I can only imagine what he must have felt as the whole scene was unfolding before his eyes.

I mean, his own people sentenced him to death for a crime that he did not commit. He was innocent, without blemish.  Not only did they sentence him to death, but they were the ones who placed him on the cross. And what was it that he said prior to taking his  last breath? As it is recorded in Luke 13:34-  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Wow! There he was nearing the end of his earthly life as a result of the actions of others, and he begs for them to be forgiven for it all. Guys, I can’t even begin to fathom this. Can you? How can one be in a place in which he found himself being and ask for his people to be forgiven of such a senseless act? Love, my friends. The answer is love.

The love that he showed his people that day is the same love that he instructs each of us to give to each other. Man, that is one hard pill to swallow, isn’t? I mean sure it’s easy to love someone who loves us and is nice to us, but what about those that are the complete opposite of that? You know, the ones that have hurt us in some way.  Or, what about the ones that look different than us, believe different than we do, and maybe even say things that we do not agree with? How in the heck are we supposed to show love to them?

As hard as it can be to show love to someone that has hurt us &/or has said something that we do not agree with, I believe that it can be done. Now, I don’t want you to think that I have mastered this, because I have not in any way,  shape or form. However, I have definitely worked on it and have made great strides in that direction.

What I have learned overtime is that although someone maybe unkind to me or may say something that I do not agree with, that reflects their  heart…not mine. Likewise, my response to them is a reflection of my heart. If I choose to respond to them in a less than kind and loving way, that is on me. There is obviously some work that I need to do within myself. Do you see what I am saying here? I sure hope so.  The point is, we have to quickly evaluate situations as such when they occur, and recognize that there is something going on within the other person that has nothing to do with us. By doing so, we will likely be able to show love to them. Now, this isn’t something that will happen overnight, but with time and practice, it can and it should.

Well, let’s stop there for today. Tomorrow we will talk about showing love to others that are different than us. But before we go, has there been a time when it was difficult for you to show love to someone that was unloving towards you? What did you do? How did you handle the situation? Was there something that you learned from it that has helped you to approach similar situations in a different way? I would really like to know. Please comment, email or PM on Facebook.  In the meantime, I’ll see you on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thefaithfilledtraveler/ this afternoon and here in the morning.

Make it a great day!

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson