Love Your Neighbor–Including Your Enemy
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Do you ever find yourself opening old personal wounds by thinking about something someone did to you in the past? I’m not someone who dwells on such things normally, but occasionally I find myself reliving very unpleasant scenes in my life that leave me feeling angry all over again as if the incident has just happened. I found myself doing that yesterday morning in the shower.
I thought about a specific incident in my life where an individual hurt me, and those old feelings of anger, self-righteousness, and outrage resurfaced. I was working myself into a lather, so to speak. Then I began to think about Jesus’ words to love your enemy (Luke 6:27). In this passage Jesus goes on to say, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (6:28)
I was immediately convicted. At that moment I was not blessing this individual, nor was I praying for him. What this individual did to me was wrong, but Jesus tells me to bless him, pray for him, and turn my other cheek. Later in the passage, Jesus says that God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked, and calls us to “Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)
I continue to find Jesus’ instruction to us almost impossible to do. I would much rather stew over the wrongs done to me, think badly about the other person, and seek vindication. The only way I know to overcome these feelings is to think on God’s kindness to those who are ungrateful and wicked (including me). Why does God put up with our ill behavior, our rudeness, and our selfishness? Why does God continue to show us mercy when we curse God or ignore God? I suppose because God loves perfectly with a love that is not dependent upon what others do.
That’s the kind of love Jesus is talking about when he says, “Love your neighbor.” We are to love every human being regardless of the way they treat us. We are to show mercy, forgiveness, and blessing. I spent some time yesterday morning doing that very thing for the individual I was stewing about in the shower. Was it easy? No. Was it cleansing? Yes.
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