“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. (44.) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; (45.) That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:43 – 45
When we think of things that are hard for Christians, this must be one of the hardest duties of a Christian. Men are not naturally lovers or forgivers but as Christians we must all be. We are to be more like the one who gave His life and shed His blood for a people that were naturally at enmity with the Lord. People talk about being lovers of God all their life but that is impossible unless God told a lie. Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God…” the word “enmity” means – hostility or in opposition and the definition even goes as far to call it hatred – and all of us were “carnal” before we were spiritual. Somehow some Christians believe they were exempt from this before they were saved, but we were not. And the reason they hate God is who He is, they disagree with Him in doctrine. This is why God said “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Romans 3:11 the reason they will not seek Him is because they do not understand Him. It is for this reason the natural man will hate God; even some that are “church members” (so to speak). Man is by nature haters of other men, it is just our nature. Therefore once a sinner is saved we come to realize over time that we are different; we become more like God taking on a few of His attributes like holiness, kindness, joy and yes love, these are called the “fruits of the Spirit” which are gifts we did not have before salvation which includes the ability to love. While hate will never totally leave a believer until we are with the Lord, every Christian should fight this old nature sore. I am also like any of you and have the same old nature and sometimes, if not most of the time I also find myself fighting the same fights with the old nature. I must remember that when Jesus found me I was not looking for Him, I was not seeking Him, and I was at enmity with the Lord. But the grace of God, the blood of Jesus, and the working of the Holy Spirit changed all of that but in this flesh it is still a fight to follow my Lord. When someone hurts us it is human nature to fight back but wouldn’t it be better and more profitable to pray for them instead? I would have certainly not have loved it if the Lord hated me because I was at enmity with Him, but He did not, by grace He loved me and sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to die for my sins, what a wonderful God we have. The Lord told us in Proverbs 25:21 - 22 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: (22.) For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee. If the Lord will reward us for being kind to those that hate us then what is our reward if we fail to follow the Lords command? I know it is hard to love them that hate us but beloved it is a must; the Lord did not ask He commanded. I believe we all can use a good dose of kindness but those that are without Christ in their hearts can use it more than I can, be kind to them even it they hate and despise you. This is hard; but it is the command of God. Romans 12:14 “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.” Even if they are Christians themselves.
