NEWS Loving Enemies
I've been meditating for a while on why people find it difficult to love their enemies. It is natural for people to hate their enemies. Look at the world today. Hatred is everywhere. Spirit-filled hearts - hearts filled with Christ - do not hate. Instead, they love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. The Spirit provides the energy necessary to love enemies. How wonderful!
What lies behind the natural inability of people to love their enemies? I believe there are several reasons, but perhaps one of the biggest reasons is that people expect to get a positive return for the energy they expend. When there is no expected return or perhaps even a negative return, they refrain from expending energy. After all, why love somebody when you do not expect to get any love back in return? It is far easier to hate somebody and expect perhaps an argument or heated exchange of words - perhaps even a fist fight - than it is to love them and expect nothing.
What people fail to understand is that when we do not love our enemies, God and His never failing love isn't on our side. And that is not a good thing. Not a good thing at all. If God isn't on our side, we leave the door wide open for the enemy - the prince of darkness - to attack. And attack he will. Satan loves battling himself. He wins every time. The only time Satan loses is when he battles Christ. That is a battle he can never win - EVER!
When we love our enemies, God is on our side. We don't need to expect to receive love back from our enemies. When we love our enemies, we have the power of God's love and Christ on our side. We can't lose! His love rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6)
Spirit-filled hearts do not require love from people - whether family, neighbors or enemies - or from things. We give the love we receive from God freely to others expecting nothing in return.
Jesus gave God's love freely to others all of the time. The only thing the Lord required was for people to believe in His never-failing love. Believing is key. Paul preached Christ crucified, but only after he believed in the power of God's love to raise Jesus back from the dead. Saul of Tarsus had no idea of how powerful God's love is. It was only after he saw the Lord through revelation - an event that transformed Saul's heart -that he was able to comprehend the power of God's love.
I know several people that have gone into deep depression because they gave somebody love expecting to receive love in return, and did not get anything. This kind of behavior is a sure-fire recipe for a broken heart.
The only love Spirit-filled hearts require is God's love - what the ancient Greeks called Agape. There is plenty of God's love to go around. His love is in infinite supply. His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 5:18). There is no greater love in the universe.
May you love your enemies and may God's never failing love be all the love you ever need.
Agape,
Steve
What lies behind the natural inability of people to love their enemies? I believe there are several reasons, but perhaps one of the biggest reasons is that people expect to get a positive return for the energy they expend. When there is no expected return or perhaps even a negative return, they refrain from expending energy. After all, why love somebody when you do not expect to get any love back in return? It is far easier to hate somebody and expect perhaps an argument or heated exchange of words - perhaps even a fist fight - than it is to love them and expect nothing.
What people fail to understand is that when we do not love our enemies, God and His never failing love isn't on our side. And that is not a good thing. Not a good thing at all. If God isn't on our side, we leave the door wide open for the enemy - the prince of darkness - to attack. And attack he will. Satan loves battling himself. He wins every time. The only time Satan loses is when he battles Christ. That is a battle he can never win - EVER!
When we love our enemies, God is on our side. We don't need to expect to receive love back from our enemies. When we love our enemies, we have the power of God's love and Christ on our side. We can't lose! His love rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6)
Spirit-filled hearts do not require love from people - whether family, neighbors or enemies - or from things. We give the love we receive from God freely to others expecting nothing in return.
Jesus gave God's love freely to others all of the time. The only thing the Lord required was for people to believe in His never-failing love. Believing is key. Paul preached Christ crucified, but only after he believed in the power of God's love to raise Jesus back from the dead. Saul of Tarsus had no idea of how powerful God's love is. It was only after he saw the Lord through revelation - an event that transformed Saul's heart -that he was able to comprehend the power of God's love.
I know several people that have gone into deep depression because they gave somebody love expecting to receive love in return, and did not get anything. This kind of behavior is a sure-fire recipe for a broken heart.
The only love Spirit-filled hearts require is God's love - what the ancient Greeks called Agape. There is plenty of God's love to go around. His love is in infinite supply. His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 5:18). There is no greater love in the universe.
May you love your enemies and may God's never failing love be all the love you ever need.
Agape,
Steve
posted by Steve at
1:31 PM
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