Love Thy Enemy

Love Thy Enemy

Walking the narrow way of Christ’s love — even toward those who oppose us.

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“You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies…” (Matthew 5:43–44)

Loving those who love us is easy. Anyone can do that. But loving those who oppose us, wound us, or stand against us — that is the work of Christ formed within us. That is the narrow way.

Jesus doesn’t call us to tolerate our enemies. He calls us to love them. Not because they deserve it, but because He loved us first.

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⭐ Why Love Your Enemy?

Jesus reveals the heart of the Father:

“He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good…”
(Matthew 5:45)

God does not withhold His goodness from those who oppose Him. When we love our enemies, we reflect His nature, not theirs.

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⭐ The Real Enemy Is Not Flesh and Blood

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood…”
(Ephesians 6:12)

People are not the enemy. They may act like enemies, speak like enemies, or wound us like enemies — but behind every act of hatred or division is a spiritual force seeking to destroy unity.

When we love our enemies, we refuse to participate in that destruction.

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⭐ Love Is a Weapon of Light

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal…”
(2 Corinthians 10:4)

Love is not weakness. Love is warfare. Love disarms darkness, breaks cycles of retaliation, and exposes the schemes of the enemy.

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⭐ Let God Be the Judge

“Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” says the Lord.
(Deuteronomy 32:35)

We do not need to defend ourselves or settle the score. God sees. God knows. God will act. Our calling is not vengeance — it is love.

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⭐ Becoming Children of the Father

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:48)

This “perfection” is not flawlessness — it is wholeness. To love our enemies is to grow into the likeness of the Father. It is to become whole. It is to become one.

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⭐ A Prayer for the Journey

Lord, teach us to love as You love — to bless those who curse us, to pray for those who oppose us, and to see people not as enemies but as souls You long to restore. Make us children of the Father — whole, healed, and filled with Your love.

Amen.

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Another School Shooting.

There's been another tragic school shooting. This time a short distance from my home in the small town of Santa Fe, Texas.The shooter, a kid himself, a student from the same school of the students he murdered. It is so very difficult to understand how this could happen. What causes someone to murder without empathy for those they kill? ….. There have been more mass shootings since I started this post, almost a common occurrence. Will we ever see a time of peace?

As I was thinking about these shootings, I've seen some similarities between them. The shooters are pretty much loners and have a hard time fitting in and are drawn into groups which are not the right groups for them to be in. These groups are residual groups from the Hitler and Nazis era.

These groups are centered around Nazism, Fascism, Supremacism. I read that Fascism was first used during WW1 in Italy. Hitler and the Nazis successfully used it to gain control of Germany. It is a type of propaganda that manipulates the mind. I don't know if these groups are really aware of the hate they breed, or is it their goal and what they believe in? They usually pick out groups of people to blame for the problems we face. Even the problems themselves get over exaggerated. They also stir up hate towards anyone who goes against them. The more they blame and the more that people listen then things happen, like they did when Hitler was in control of Germany; millions of people are murdered. People get pulled into believing something and when evil things happen, it becomes like a run away train; it is almost impossible to stop.

Let me give you some fuel for thought. I am a Vietnam vet. When I got out of the service, there were no welcome home ceremonies. I wanted friends but it was like I had a curse on me and people didn't want to associate with me, at least that was my impression then. I found a few friends, just not the right ones. One was a gay male. I didn't really know he was gay until he invited me out to go to a bar one evening. I expected we were just going out for some drinks. When we went inside, I could see this was not the typical bar like I had frequented before. Men were with men and girls with girls, for the most part, a gay bar. It took me by surprise. I didn't know there was such a thing as gay bars. I could have left the bar when I understood but I didn't. I had some drinks and at some point passed out. When I came too, my gay friend was carrying me into my apartment. He had his way with me, I let him, he left to go back to his apartment, and I cried. I talked with God and cried. I remembered asking Christ into my life as a teenager and asked God how did my life get to be the way it was at that point. I thought maybe I messed up somehow the first time I asked Jesus into my life and that is how I got to this low point in my life. So, I asked Jesus back into my life, I started to attend a non-denominational church that my brother was going to and my life changed for the better. I met good friends there and felt welcomed into the young singles group. It was here I met my wonderful wife. We have been married now 44 years this coming August. We have two wonderful girls. I feel so blessed to have such beautiful children. One is married and has a very good relationship with her husband. They have four marvelous children who we adore. Our other daughter is nothing like her sister. I think one might say that she is a free spirit. She is not married so does the things she wants to do. She has and is still traveling the world and has seen beautiful amazing places. We love to see the pictures she's taken.

Let me go back to the time I met this gay man. What happened with him is really what changed my life so in a way, I consider that to be a blessing. I think he must have had misgivings about me and I of him. I feel no animosity towards him. He is gay, I am not. I can't say I really understand homo sexuality but I believe it is real and something that can't be changed for those who really believe they were born into the wrong body. How does one explain people who are born with both sex organs? It happens, it's real. I leave the things I don't understand to God Who knows everything about everyone.

God has said that we are all sinners. We have all disobeyed His teachings, His laws. We don't seek after God or want to get to know Him. After all, we can't see Him. But, Jesus being in the image of God the Father came into this world to tell and to show those who were with Him what God is really like. He fervently cared for people. He healed them, fed them, made the blind to see, made the dead to come back to life, and He taught them all about God and told us how we should live. He gave us two commandments which sums up all of God's commandments; love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and to love thy neighbor as thy self (These are all peoples, even our enemies.) What is so amazing is that while we were all doing our thing, sinning against God, He (Jesus) died for us, in our place. All our transgressions were laid upon Him. He loved us so much that He did that for us all! This doesn't mean that we are free to go on sinning. After knowing this and accepting His gift, if we go on sinning, it is like putting Him to death all over again. We all need help not to sin. Inviting Jesus into our lives is how we get help. The Holy Spirit is our helper and Jesus our teacher.

Let me just close with this that has to do with those who may become future mass murders. If we as individuals could see others who have a hard time fitting in and could just love them the way they are. Bring them into good groups who will welcome them in as they are and not try to shove religion down their throats. They first have to be able to see something different in this group as appose to what they know. Let me just say this too. People can sense when others are not genuine, that they are just doing it out of a sense of obligation, it's not from the heart.

This about the heart brings to memory of another post I wrote about the heart, "The Heart - It's Not Just A Pump". You might find this interesting.