Love your enemies

Published 1:38 pm Saturday, November 25, 2023

Jesus said, “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Jesus knew we could not feel fond of or emotionally love our enemies. He knew we could never feel affection for our neighbor by trying. C. S. Lewis said, “So loving my enemies does not apparently mean thinking them nice either.” The old advice, “Hate the sin, love the sinner,” has been around for a long time. It still applies.

The late Pastor J. Oscar Thompson, in his great little book, Concentric Circles of Concern, emphasized that the love our Lord commanded was not emotional love. Thompson repeatedly said, “Love is meeting needs.” So we might wonder about anyone, especially of him who already has abundant wealth, “What does he lack?” Well, he probably lacks the most important of all things, a good relationship with God Almighty. and the only way to have that is through belief and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the greatest need of anyone on Earth.

Jesus asked, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). I think of this quote each time I hear that someone is a billionaire, or even a millionaire. I decry the lack of good these people could do with just a little of their money to alleviate human suffering around the world. I am not talking about giving money to poor people. Jesus reminded us that we would always have the poor with us. What I visualize is the building of small clinics in places where people must walk for miles to see a doctor. I think how easy it would be to drill water wells in places where the people must risk their lives to get water from crocodile-infested rivers. A billionaire could do so very much good in the world if he were not so selfish and proud, if he loved his fellow man enough to provide for his real needs. and the sad reality is that the billionaire would never miss the few hundred dollars it would take.

Love, again, is meeting needs. and what is the greatest and universal need of every person on Earth? The gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news that Jesus saves, that God sent His only Son to Earth to die on a cruel cross in order to wash away all of each believer’s sins with His own blood. Part of that good news is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead to validate His claims. That resurrection on the third day is what we celebrate each Easter. The greatest need of man God will provide just for the asking. Romans 10:13 promises, ”For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But the caveat of all this is not to wait. Life on Earth is actually very short and most uncertain. The Bible warns in Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed unto men to die once, but after this the judgment.” That means this life is the only opportunity to get right with God through Jesus the Christ. and the scary part is that no one alive knows when he will die.

People procrastinate the most important thing they can possibly ever do on Earth, which is to have faith in Christ and to call on Him for salvation. That is the only way to ever see Heaven.