Who is Your Enemy?

Matthew 5: 43 – 48

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:43%20-%2048&version=NIV)

I wore a shirt one day that said, I love . . . and it was a country that some people have no regard for.  I was criticized for wearing the shirt as if it were a political statement and told that I should not wear it again.  But the thing is, it was not a political statement, it was a sincere statement that I do love that country not for who they are or what they stand for but for whose they are.  Even though they may not do things the way I believe they should, even though there are ungodly things that go on in that country (like nothing ungodly goes on in America), I know that God loves them just as much as He loves me.  I know that He sent His Son to this earth to save them just as much as He sent Him to save me.  I know that the “church” is growing more rapidly in that country than it is in the United States, why should I not love them?  Jesus is very clear in this passage that we should not just love our brothers and our friends but that we should love our enemies.

In most cases it is easy for a person to love someone who loves you.  If someone throws themselves in front of the bus for you, you will most likely cherish them.  If someone gives you everything you ever desire, you will most likely love them.  But what about those that annoy us?  What about those that are always asking for something and never giving in return?  What about the one that just never agrees with anything you say?  Are those people easy to love?  Those are the people that Jesus says that we should love and that we should pray for.

Maybe your worst enemy is yourself.  If that is the case pray for yourself, that you can love yourself in order to love others.  Remember God loved you first, He made you, and you are worth more than gold to Him.  If you love God, then love yourself.

Maybe your worst enemy is someone who ridicules you and puts you down, persecutes you, pray for them.

Maybe your worst enemy is another country.  Pray for them, that God’s glory will be made known to them.

Today, as you seek Him remember the words found in Hebrews 12:14 ¹⁴ Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2012:14&version=NIV)  May God bless you as you follow His commands and work towards the perfection of Christ.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila