Jesus made a radical statement when He said that we should love our enemies. This daily devotional looks at how disciples of Christ should take love to a higher level than the worldview.
Nuggets
- We are to love others, even those who do not love us — and show them that.
- We can’t follow the worldview notion of loving those who love us as we are called to more.
- We are called to be giving and forgiving, not judgmental.
In our Sunday Morning Bible Study, we are looking at Luke. At the end of chapter 6 of Luke, the illness discussed is conflict. Here we are looking at the diagnosis and prescription.
Let's Put It into Context
If chapter 6 is all one big sermon, this passage is part of the Sermon on the Plain. This occurred during the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Previous verses in the chapter give us the Beatitudes and some woes.
Devotions in the The Beatitudes Show Us How to be Docile series
Then Jesus has to go and turn things on its ear.
What Does Loving Our Enemies Really Mean?
“But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don’t ask for them back. Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them” (Lk. 6: 27-31 CSB)
We are to love others, even those who do not love us — and show them that.
Oh, this is so much against human nature. Jesus tells us that, no matter how others treat us, we are to love them. Let’s unpack these verses and see what that means.
I always get a chuckle out of the “are you listening” part. Yes, we all have ears, but not all of us really listen.
But it is more than just listen. Are we listening to respond? Are we going to make that the moment of conversion? Are we going to totally reject the Gospel? Are we going to keep searching so we can make a decision at a later date?
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Then we get to the love part. We know that the second greatest commandment is “… ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk. 12: 31 ESV).
There are three different ways that God loves us, according to Sproul.
- Benevolent love
- Beneficent love
- Complacent love
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The benevolent and beneficent love are directed to all mankind. That is God’s good will and the benefits of common grace.
No, the complacent love does not follow the worldview definition that we have to be indifferent to people’s actions to show them love. Instead, it means God takes great pleasure or delight in us.
This love is directed only to His elect.
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What Jesus is talking about here is we should love our enemies with a benevolent love. It is about forgiveness, not revenge.
Isn’t that logical? Revenge and retaliation would be the work of Satan, not God. We don’t want to follow Satan.
We aren’t to respond in sheer emotions. Instead, we are to respond with our Christian virtue. Bulgur noted, “But in benevolence towards enemies there is additional worth, peculiar grace, for it raises men’s minds, and exalts their affections to the sublimest pitch.”
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Wait a minute.
Doesn’t this contradict what the psalmist said? “Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies” (Ps. 139: 21-22 NIV). We are to make sure we are not influenced by those who are rebelling against God.
Whitley reminded us that loving our enemies does not mean we make them our new BFFs. Jesus wasn’t calling us to the worldview’s complacent love toward them. We aren’t called to approve of their actions. Boston called it loving the person, not the course they have chosen. He wrote, “Those who are not truly and properly our enemies, but in our account and reckoning only are enemies to us.”
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Instead, we are to imitate Jesus. He responded in benevolent love. Instead of anger, we are to respond with meekness. Meekness is a personality trait exhibiting a mild or moderate disposition that places dependence on God.
Glossary
Remember, our job is to preach God’s gospel and make disciples to expand His kingdom. Spreading Satan’s evil is not going to present the Gospel in the appropriate manner.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Beecher said that we must love others “in order that you may come into the family of God.” If we don’t love our enemies, we don’t have the Spirit of God in us. Paul said, “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him” (Rom. 8: 9 CSB).
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Seed brought up an interesting point. He wrote, “The great law of nature is an universal, active benevolence to the whole body of rational beings, as far as the sphere of our power extends. We were all sent into the world to promote one another’s happiness, as being all children of the same Father, our Father which is in heaven.”
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Seed’s point was that, regardless if we are children of God or just made in His image, we are brothers and sisters. We shouldn’t feel like we should only love those who have made a profession of faith.
Glossary
Devotions in the What Is Charity? series
This section ends with the Golden Rule. We’ve talked about that before, but from Matthew’s Gospel.
One of the big nuggets we got out of that study was that our responses have to be determined prior to the situations taking place. We have to choose to respond the way in which God wants.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
I have to say this again. Worldview people skew this to read that disciples are supposed to let them think and do whatever they want.
That definitely isn’t what Jesus said. Jesus expects us to follow God’s laws and commandments. God does not commanded us to let people disobey Him – we are to try to help them see His love for them.
Why Isn’t Loving Those Who Love Us Enough?
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Lk. 6: 32-36 CSB)
Spurgeon reminded us that we can’t follow the worldview notion of loving those who love us. We are called to more.
How Spurgeon explained this was by including an old saying. It goes, “Evil for good is devil-like, evil for evil is beast-like, good for good is man-like, good for evil is God-like.”
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It is easy to love those that love us. The right atmosphere is cultivated to grow that love.
What Jesus was talking about was our expectations. He’s not saying that we shouldn’t expect love to be the product of love.
Jesus is saying love should be our default, regardless of other people’s actions toward us. Our response should be based on our relationship with Him, no one else. It is a product of Christian virtues.
Devotions in the Christian Virtues series
We should help those in need without expecting anything in return — here. We should expect our reward to in eternity.
Robertson agreed that loving our enemies would not be easy — just as nothing on the Sanctification Road is going to be particularly easy. But he reminds us that “it is not conformity to a creed that is here required, but aspiration after a state.”
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Glossary
Yes, our goal is to be perfect. Not going to happen.
The perfected state indicates the combination of the graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness. That is only going to happen in Heaven.
Glossary
It is about our being obedient to God’s laws and commandments. We are in a relationship where we are to imitate God’s character because we are children of God.
Glossary
One way we are to imitate God is to be merciful. God’s mercy is the unexpected way God responds in love to our needs. Disciples’ mercy is a characteristic of compassion for the needs of others, especially those who are in distress.
Wilmot-Buxton stressed that this has to come out in our actions, not our words. The best way of showing mercy is showing forgiveness.
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Judging, Forgiving, and Giving
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over — will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Lk. 6: 37-38 CSB)
We are called to be giving and forgiving, not judgmental.
We’ve looked at verse 37 before as well as talked about judging others. Here are the nuggets.
- We said that Jesus commanded His disciplines to love, not judge.
- Unfortunately, we not only judge, but we also condemn.
- Instead, Jesus calls us to forgive.
- Jesus told His disciple to not be judgmental.
- We all have sinned.
- Being lenient in forgiving sin does not mean Jesus wants us to continue in sin.
- We should be humble, not judging with conceit.
- We shouldn’t judge those we perceive as weaker than us.
- We shouldn’t compare ourselves with someone else.
- We shouldn’t argue about what we believe. Lyth wrote than when we are rigid about trivial matters, we “do not understand the spirituality and liberty of the gospel.”
- No one — me included — is going to get everything right all the time because we will never understand all of God’s ways (Isa. 55: 8-9).
While we must concentrate on our own relationships with God, we are called to witness to others. One way we are expected to judge is whether we should witness to them or not. We are not to pass judgment on people, but we are supposed to determine if they are need direction in following God’s laws and commandments.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Sanderson gave us a good reminder. He wrote, “God has reserved three prerogatives royal to Himself — vengeance, glory, and judgment.” We don’t want to take over God’s job.
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Instead of judging, we need to be forgiving. That goes hand in hand with the loving.
Verse 38 could be used as evidence of the prosperity gospel. I think that would be taking the verse out of context.
“Give, and it will be given to you …” (Lk. 6: 38 CSB) is saying, in my opinion, that our love, judgment, and forgiveness will determine how we are loved, judged, and forgiven. Also, when we receive, we are expected to give back.
The last part is confusing: “… a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over — will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Lk. 6: 38 CSB).
- Raleigh said that our giving has to be in proportion to our getting.
- We don’t become covetous when we give back.
- We can’t look at it as a duty — especially when we are asked to give all.
- We give for one reason: God’s glory.
- This isn’t just talking money; it is also talking of ourselves, our time, and our influence.
- God tells us the character we should have, not how much we should give.
- Our reward will be great, but we may not receive it in this lifetime.
- Being children of God is a reward.
- The “good measure” does not necessarily equate to men’s gratitude.
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What we have to do here is keep our focus on God and eternal things. We shouldn’t be storing up treasure and rewards in this life.
I know. That is hard. It goes against our human nature.
We have to keep putting God first.
Making the Connections
If we respond to our enemies in anger and vengeance, we will escalate the hatred. If we respond in benevolent love, we show God’s love. That brings peace and tranquillity.
That makes the world a much nicer place to live.
How Do We Apply This?
- We need to pray for our enemies.
- We need to pray for ourselves.
- We should have true pity — sorrow and compassion — toward our enemies.
- We need only good toward our enemies.
- We need to keep a lid on our bitterness, anger, and envy.
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Father God. You ask us to imitate You to show others Who You are. Lord, sometimes that is hard. We know that You will provide us with the strength and ability to follow Your laws and commandments. Thank You. Amen.
What do you think?
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