Willing to Forgive?
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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; 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 5:43-48 (KJV)
A pastor gave a passionate sermon based on Matthew 5:43-48. At the end of the sermon, he challenged the congregation, “How many of you are willing to forgive your enemies?”
Every hand was raised, save one. The pastor walked to the one holdout and asked, “Mr. Jones, why aren’t you willing to forgive your enemies?”
“Well pastor, he responded, “I’m 90 years old – and I’ve outlived all of them!
Unfortunately, we can’t outlive all of our enemies, so we are obliged to take Jesus’ words to heart. The question becomes, “Who are our enemies?” To the Jews in 1st Century Palestine, anyone who was not Jewish was considered an enemy – Samaritans, Romans, Followers of the Way, etc.
We can be like 1st Century Jews, putting anyone who disagrees with us on our enemies list. Someone offers a conflicting political opinion – we demonize him. Someone criticizes the church we attend – we question his faith. Someone lives in the wrong neighborhood or attends the wrong school – we marginalize him. While we may be justified condemning those who seem to be enemies of God, we need to be careful not to make the bar too low when we put someone on our enemies list.
Jesus rejected the “Us” versus “Them” culture. He had come to offer salvation to all, and “all” included those who might be considered enemies.
The Greek word for enemies ἐχθρός (echthros) is used eight times to describe anyone who is an adversary, an enemy, or who is hostile. The case can be made that the eight times echthros is used (Rom. 11:28; Mt. 13:28; Col. 1:21; Mt. 5:43, 44; 10:36; Lk. 6:27, 35), the hostility refers to resistance to the Gospel.
And how do you overcome resistance? With love.
I didn’t appreciate just how radical Jesus commandment to love our enemies is until I discovered that the Greek word used for “love” in Matthew 5:44 is ἀγαπάω (agapaō). In the New Testament, agapaō is the active love of God for His Son and His people, and the active love his people are to have for God, each other, even enemies.
Our challenge as Christians is to honor God by learning to love others as Jesus loves us. Do we bless those who curse us? Do we do good to those that hate us? Do we pray for those who persecute us?
“But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful.” Luke 6:35-36 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Can we work to foster the kind of love that Jesus describes in Luke 6? Yes, we can. It begins with realizing we cannot outlive all our enemies, but we sure can out-love them!
Blessings,
Don & Bonnie Sennott
Giving credit where credit is due: The story of the 92-year old was part of a sermon by Ken Trivette posted on the internet.
Because He Loves Us Press 