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Love Your Enemies

Jesus said, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:35-36).

I don't have a lot of enemies. But like any person I have people who criticize me, wrongly judge me and who are generally just a pain. I am tempted to just tolerate them. To ignore them. Maybe I don't actively hate them, but I just look past them and choose not to care about them. And yet Jesus commands me to love them. To do good to them. To lend to them. And then not to expect a thanks or a parade or even the return of what I let them borrow.

That is a hard saying. I can't say I'm doing it well. But I'm a child of the Most High and he is kind. He has been so merciful to me. He sent his Son for me when I was his enemy. He could have ignored me. Instead he redeemed me by the blood of the Son.

The love and mercy of my Heavenly Father compels me to love my enemies.

Posted by on February 26, 2009

Comments (17)

Great post! I think we all strugle with this one. How do you try to balance this with Romans 16:17? I would love to know your thoughts. I mean avoiding them seems easy to do and loving them is hard; so perhaps I should do the hard thing, but I am also commanded to avoid. Sometimes, I really just don't want to love them - ouch! Maybe, I answered my own question.

Love in the Truth.

Posted by Trevor Peck | February 26, 2009 8:53 AM

Good post. The only thing that is somewhat confusing in American Christianity is how we can say we love our enemies and then send our young men to blow them up said "enemies" in Iraq and other countries around the globe. There is an amazing true story that I read recently about 2 Christians who left the military after coming to a fuller understanding of Jesus' command to love our enemies. It is called A Change of Allegiance. I highly recommend it.

Posted by Josh Champagne | February 26, 2009 10:09 AM

Convicting. That is so much harder to do.

Posted by Aaron | February 26, 2009 1:53 PM

Good thoughts Josh. I just recently wrote about the difficulty of applying Jesus' teaching on Loving others to the topic of abortion on We The Posterity:

Love and Hate and Abortion

Posted by kerrin | February 26, 2009 2:00 PM

This kind of love is truly what sets us apart as God's people. Real love doesn't make sense to the world because who in their right mind would genuinely lavish love on their enemy? It's hard enough to love friends! It takes so much faith and bravery to live like Jesus. Luke 6:35-36 confirms the real definition of love to my heart; it is a daily choice to live Christ - and a really hard choice at that. The call to love my enemies makes me so desperate for His Spirit - there is no way I could ever do it on my own strength. It blows my mind to dream about what the world could be like if the Church really embraced Luke 6.

Posted by Missy W | February 26, 2009 2:36 PM

Oh mate, what a Word in season! Thank you for humbly and honestly sharing this... God Bless you as you continue to grow in this area & may we all find grace as we seek to love our enemies...

Posted by Patrick in OZ | February 26, 2009 2:42 PM

It may seem hard to apply, however, not wishing bad to them is a manifestation itself of our love. Shalom!

Posted by Dan | February 27, 2009 1:50 AM

Hey Josh, can I borrow a book? Seriously, where's the love, man?

And c'mon, when are you going to invite me to your church? You know I don't attend church. And yet, instead of inviting me (even to your family's -- and your former -- church, which is close to where I live), you tell me to read a book in which I am called a "good for nothing brick" because I don't attend church.

How touched am I? =)

Sorry, Josh -- this post just sooo inspired me . . . to test your genuine Christ-like love for your enemies. =)

Posted by Nicole Tera | February 27, 2009 2:49 AM

Thank you for a very timely reminder of what I'm called to. My wife invited over a "friend" for dinner tonight who, upon our attempt to help her and her husband work through problems in their marriage last year, ignored our advise, divorced her husband, and dragged us through a lot of "dirt" trying to get us to side with her against him.

I haven't been very excited about continuing to minister to her and her new romantic interest. Not so much a "love your enemy" thing as a "forgive those who spitefully use you" one.

But the point I need to see is that as I follow our Lord, I need to love as He loves. It doesn't always come easy.

Thanks for the reminder and encouragement!

Posted by "Joe Christian" | February 27, 2009 9:15 AM

@Nicole Tera:

I humbly apologize for the way you interpreted what I wrote. I didn't write in that spirit, but that is hard to convey over the web :-)

Every person needs to come to an understanding of Jesus' commands for themselves. And if you read the book, you will see that it does not in any way judge those who do not see things the same way.

If you live near Arlington, WA, please feel welcome to visit the folks at Atonement Free Lutheran Church (who by the way don't share these beliefs, yet I have enjoyed good Christian Fellowship with them) www.aflchurch.org/ . You will find them genuine, loving, caring people.

Blessings my friend.

Posted by Josh Champagne | February 27, 2009 9:31 AM

Josh Champagne: Wow -- I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I actually wrote my comment directed at Josh Harris! Thanks for the church invite, though!

Posted by Nicole Tera | February 28, 2009 5:23 AM

Whoops... my mistake. Just goes to show you how difficult communication can be on the internet :-)

Posted by Josh C. | February 28, 2009 10:02 AM

Thank you for sharing this with us! I too struggle with this too. Yes, I am a child of God, I don't always act like one, and I ought to. I need to forgive those and love them even when I don't agree with them. This is hard for me to obey this kind of commandment from Him. We as a believer should obey this kind of commandment from Him. Through His help we can do it if we allow Him to help us to love our enemies.

Hungry to eat His Word,
'Guerite ~ BoldLion

Posted by 'Guerite ~ BoldLion | February 28, 2009 11:08 AM

Josh H.,
Isn't cool how God convicts us through His word while at the same time molding us into His image?
As I studied God's word over the years I discovered that I started loving those who do not know Him and than realized that it was actually Him loving them trough me. You see, if He loves the lost than it only makes sense that I will also as I abide in Him.
The same is true of my enemies. If He can love them as He has me (even when I was His enemy) than I can love them in His strength as I walk in the Spirit.
Way cool stuff Josh. Thanks for the encouragement and challenge.

Josh C.,
There is a difference between a government protecting it's people and Christians taking revenge.

Posted by David Hartman | February 28, 2009 8:01 PM

yup, it's convicting and very hard to do- on our own strength, we cannot do that. But walking by the Spirit, nothings possible. after all, it's not us who live, but Christ in us =)

Posted by joanne | March 1, 2009 6:44 PM

"There is a difference between a government protecting its people and Christians taking revenge."


There also is a difference between what the tentacles of this countries State Department and Pentagon have caused to occur all over this world and protecting its people. If you go to somebodies house with a bunch of guns and kick down their door and then shoot the occupants when they get up to defend themselves, would you be found innocent of any crimes because your were defending yourself???

My point is the young man Josh C. who asked such a tough question, deserves a real answer. This Nation may have been started by Christians but it is not governed as such anymore. In fact I think in the USA you would be hard pressed to find sincere Christians in any places of leadership whether in the government of even in the CHURCH. Be careful who you trust (especially when it comes to the government and the church) just as Jesus warned us:
Matthew 7:15 "Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves."

and in Acts 20:28 "Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. 29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears. "

Posted by John Plain | March 3, 2009 7:15 PM

The measure of our love for God is the amount of our love for the person we love the least. It is so humbling to know how little I love my Lord by not loving my enemies.

Posted by Jeff | March 11, 2009 3:57 AM

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