January 5--Love your Enemy
He's the one person that you cannot stand. Try as you might, you find yourself repulsed by this person. His personality grates on you like stone wears down a sharp blade. When he's around, the entire experience is different and you exclaim (sometimes silently, sometimes outloud) "I wish he weren't here!"
In reality, you know nothing about him. Mainly becauase you have chosen not to, you know nothing about his passions, likes/dislikes, or interests. You have no idea what his life has looked like. You don't know what home feels like to him. You don't know whether he's lonely or too crowded by people. You simply have no clue.
Here's what you do know. You know that if this person ever came online while you were online you would either ignore him or sign out. You know that when he's around, your mood changes for the worse. You know that whenever you get a chance, you let others know about your dislike for him, sometimes telling true stories and sometimes telling fabricated ones. It doesn't matter whether they're true or false does it? You know that life is easier when he's not there. You know that when he is, you will always ignore him.
You might even remember when you became enemies. Then again, you might not.
Can you think of a person like this in your life?
What happens inside of you when you think about him or her?
What happened to cause you to become enemies?
So often when we claim to be "Christians" we misunderstand what that means. For many of us, this "decision" happened at a camp or concert or some other emotionally charged event. Then, we went on living our lives. Some of us decide to look a little deeper into this "Christian" thing and are taught all of the "do's and don'ts" of the "religion". Therefore, being a Christian means that we only say and do certain things at certain times. In today's world, when asked, "What is a Christian?" you will no doubt hear response such as these:
--intolerant
--judgemental
--arrogant
--"holier than thou"
--conservative
Why is it that the term "Christian" means these things today? Are these descriptions true?
Does that bother you at all? Why or why not?
Often times when Jesus (who came to model a way of life, not a new religion) was asked religious questions, he would respond with questions. Don't you wonder if questions about religion confused him? Maybe if they did confuse him, it was because he hates religion and wants nothing to do with it.
Other times, he would respond as he did in Matthew 22:34-40--check it out!
With Matthew 22 in mind, here is the question of the day: When Jesus commanded us to love our enemies (that person from the beginning of our conversation) what did he mean? Please comment you thoughts!
Check out these texts:
--Matthew 5:43-48
--Luke 6:27-36
--Romans 12:9-21
Read Romans 5:6-10.
Think about this for a second: What if God treated his enemies the way that we treat ours? If He did, we would probably be on the cross that He intercepted and wore for us.
Be like Jesus--follow Him--love outrageously!
posted by 209 Staff @ 1:30 PM
5 Comments:
I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I am still confused about what classifies someone as an enemy, and I can’t seem to figure it out completely. Is it someone that has hurt you in some way shape or form? If so our best friends can also be classified as our enemies. I guess I just feel that enemy is a very strong word and I don’t feel comfortable giving that label to anyone at this point in my life.
Can someone please help me define “an enemy”? (preferably in this context)
An enemy sounds like someone who hurts you and doesn't feel remorse, we are all humans we mess up and someone ends up hurt, but your friends feel bad about it, your enemies probobly would't give it a second thought. That's just my opinion though.
My view on the original question is that The Lord himself says in the book of Romans "It is mine to avenge; I will repay". Remembering that we don't need to get the last word in an argument or a fight or even bother with that kind of things since God is going to handle those things. that is just my view, I could be wrong.
I agree, "enemy" is a strong word/label and it has a finality to it that I don't think Jesus wants. And that's why He's asking us to love our enemy - because how can that person remain an enemy in your mind, if you love him/her?
I know from my own experience that when I pray for someone I have a disagreement with, it's MY attitude that changes, not the other person. Funny how that works...
It's hard, though, and I often struggle with this - sometimes it's just easier to write someone off as a total loss and move on - not exactly what Jesus would do.
Jesse,
I like what you said about not sitting down and listing out who our enemies are and are not. Such an exercise seems futile and would do nothing but further disillusion us.
Interesting that the word enemy is the topic of conversation and not the word love.
Enemies exist they did for Jesus and they do for me. This doesn't always mean that I have chosen them for an enemy. Often times they have chosen me for an enemy. The former (which still is the case from time to time) requires active love and a change of heart that only God can bring. The latter requires active love because I can't be sure of what I did to cause "enemy" status.
Bottom line--active love is necessary. What do you think this looks like?
let me ask you a question.
this enemy of yours, have you ever sat down and had a real convo. with him/her? Besides the fact of yelling or completly ingnoring him/her.
Let me ask you another question.
whats their fav. movie?
what kind of music do they like?
do they have any pets?
what's there favorite subject?
do you know anything about this person?
dont judge someone if they make a mistake. or if they yell at you. Does Jesus ever judge us? no. does he still guide us to the right path even if we got on the wrong path? yes.
my challenge to you is to talk to your enemy. find out something about them.
Post a Comment
<< Home