Loving Your Enemies (Jeremy Walizer)

Have you ever held resentment or judged another person because they mistreated you, gossiped about you, or just held different views than you did? Right, let's be honest if you are anything like myself of course you have held some sort of bitterness towards another person. How long did you hold a grudge towards that individual? Did it get to the point where you felt like you were about to detonate at any given second towards that particular person just because you couldn't let go of that anger or hatred against that particular person. Unfortunately, I believe we all have been in a situation like that at some point in our lives, in the moment it may have seemed like it was right to grow angry or get revenge on your enemy but later I'm sure you have regretted the way you treated that individual despite how they treated you.

I want to start by reading a section out of the book of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 43 - 48. (Read the verses).

Matthew 5:43–48 ESV

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

So we obviously see here that we are to love our enemies and act differently than how the world operates. More and more frequently today we see people who only associate or respect those who share the same view as them but here as it says in verse 44 we see that we are to love our enemies just as much as we love our neighbors. So the first question that you may be asking is "what does love look like as a child of God?" Well the Bible gives many examples and instructions on what love looks like and how we are to act when an enemy sins against us. I'm not going to look at all of them but I want to give you some of my favorite verses on love and what it looks like.

The first example I want to share with you is known as the "Love Standard" or in my words the Love test. Turn with me to 1st Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 4-8, and I'll be reading this out of the NIV version (Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Here we see the exact definition of what love really is. So with that said how patient or kind are you to your enemies? Are you jealous of them or proud that you sin less than they do? Are you selfish, easily angered, or keep records of wrong doing? These are things we need to be careful of doing because whether you believe it or not when we were baptized we no longer live, instead it is Christ and his goodness living in us which means when we love we are representing him not ourselves. Verse 8 ends on an encouraging note saying that love never fails which means that love is always beneficial to others.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

So with that said you might then ask yourself "how is showing love beneficial to us or our enemies who are stuck in their ways? Well first I believe that showing love to our enemies or even a stranger can be a great evangelizing tool. I watched a video a while back about a Christian who walked out of a grocery store one day and saw a homeless man weeping, at first the man was hesitant to approach the guy because it was his fault that he was homeless to begin with but later after the spirit nudged him to talk to the man he did just that. The Christian asked the homeless man why he was crying and the man responded telling him that he needed clothes to wear and had no money to buy them because of his past drug addiction. So the Christian told him to follow him inside of the store, when he did the Christian bought him an abundance of clothes and told him about Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sin. The last response the homeless man said was "now I know what the love of God is".

There are many stories in the Bible where Jesus showed love, forgave sins or performed a miracle FIRST and the result that came out from that was a sinner repenting of their sin and having a change of heart. My favorite example of this is in the gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 2-11. (Read John, chapter 8, verses 2-11). Here we see exactly what I said earlier, Jesus forgiving or showing love to someone and in response the sinner leaving their life of sin behind them. If we look back at 1st Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5 we can clearly see that love keeps no records of wrong or in other words love is forgiving.

Another reason why showing love is beneficial and important is that it GUARANTEES our salvation. This point is extremely important so I want you all to listen carefully to what I am about to say. We must absolutely forgive our enemies of their sins, this is not something that is optional. In Luke chapter 6, verse 37 it reads, "do not judge and you will not be judged, do not condemn and you will not be condemned, forgive and you shall be forgiven". So here we see that unless we forgive others of their sins, which includes our enemies, we won't be forgiven of our sins. Getting baptized and believing in Jesus does not guarantee our salvation if we have no repentance of our sins.

To explain it better, think of it this way, there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation or even forgiveness of sin, instead it was freely given to us by the love that God has for all who accept it, Ephesians 2:8-9 points that out. So who are we to tell someone that they don't deserve forgiveness of sins, even if it's not from God? We would be considered hypocrites if we did that and give non believers the wrong impression about our faith.

I don't know how many of you have been watching the news but it seems like each time I turn on the TV all I see is people condemning and demanding swift justice on another person for a mistake that was made years ago and although I do understand why people do this to each other it still at the same time is very sinister and unbiblical. Instead of letting go of the past and forgiving sins, people persist to ruin the life of another person simply by letting the whole world know how bad that particular person is. What those condemners don't quite understand is that we as Christians don't go to heaven by how good we or the work we do, we are once again saved only by God's grace and through faith. Those who actively participate in Cancel Culture are only condemning themselves, John 3:17 says this, "for God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him".

The one final reason why showing love to our enemies is beneficial. Turn with me to Romans 12:20. (Read Romans 12:20). The phrase heaping coals on their heads simply means that they will feel ashamed that they sinned against you, i would assume that if they felt ashamed that there is a good possibility that they would repent from their sins as well, don't you think?

Romans 12:20 ESV

20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Matthew 5: 38-42 gives us the same sort of picture. (Read Matthew 5: 38-42). So why does Jesus teach us to not take revenge on our enemies and in exchange do good to them? I believe it is for this main reason, when you put fire and fire together you just make more fire, in other words the cycle of hatred will not stop when you both persist on getting revenge or disrespecting one another. However, I believe there is another reason why Jesus tells us this, it's because God graciously does good for us when we don't deserve it. When we practice showing grace to each other they see once again who Jesus really is.

Matthew 5:38–42 ESV

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.