This passage goes along with the previous passage addressed in my last blog post.

This passage is both a difficult and freeing passage.  I remember when I was in middle school I was bullied a bit by this one kid.  He never actually hit me, but he tried to intimidate me and provoke a fight.  I guess he figured if he could get me to throw the first, he wouldn’t get in trouble for beating me up.  My response wasn’t great.  While I never did throw that first punch, I wanted to.  I thought about it a lot and if the opportunity had presented itself outside of school, I might have done it.  Thankfully, it didn’t.

A fight with that bully would have lasted a few minutes at most, but my sinful nature used that to capture my mind for weeks.

It’s hard to love those who hate you or persecute you.  It’s hard to forgive those who have hurt you.  That, however, is what Jesus is telling us to do.  We are to love everyone, even our enemies.

The amazing thing is that when we do that, it frees us.  Had I responded to the bully with love and forgiveness, I wouldn’t have dwelled for weeks on how I could get my revenge.  I would have been freed from the anger, hurt, and hatred I felt.  I heard one person say, “When we hold a grudge, it’s like drinking poison to get back at the person who hurt us.  We’re just hurting ourselves.”

So, how to we learn to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us?

Pray about it and think about Jesus.

I know that sounds cliche at first, but prayer should always be our first response.  It is God working in us that fights our old sinful nature.  When we think about Jesus, we remember that He lived this out for us as a perfect example.  Romans 5:8 says:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We were once enemies of God, but He showed us love.  He loved us so much He died for us that we could be forgiven and saved.  He didn’t wait for us to change or start loving Him, He just loved us.

When I consider who I was and how Jesus treated me.  It makes it a bit easier to love the person who has wronged me and by the grace and power of God we can.  For all those times we don’t…well…”While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”