Loving One Another

Jesus summarized the entire law with commands for us to love God, and love each other. We have heard it taught on numerous occasions and most of us have no problem with the first part, it's the second part where we meet with difficulties. 

There are times when people are easy to love, and other times when they seem almost impossible to love. We are quick to express the feelings of most, "I love God, it's his kids I can't seem to get along with." 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives numerous examples for living upright, moral lives. In the middle of all of that instruction recorded in Matthew 5, 6 and 7, we come across his expectations for us in loving one another, especially those we consider our enemies. 

Matthew 5:43-48

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Here's a tough but a good way to start.  1. Love your enemies.  2. Pray for those who persecute you.  Jesus seems pretty serious about this love business. Every time I read this passage I feel the urge to cry out to him and let him know my enemies and persecutors are not very lovable. Surely if he only knew what they said about me or did to me, he would let me off the hook when it comes to actually loving them.  He does know all about those things and he still insists that I love them and pray for them.

He makes it a little easier to understand by using the example of us only loving those who love us, and says when that happens we are being like the tax collectors and pagans.  Even they love the ones that love them, and we need to do better. He even tells us we need to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. I don't feel very perfect, but my commitment to God will lead me in the direction of growing and learning to love and pray for my enemies. 

Look at the first part of the text again. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven."  If I am reading that correctly, it says that being a child of the Father in heaven hinges on me loving my enemies and persecutors. 

Consider God's love for you, even when you are unlovable. We sure do not want his love for us to ever stop, and he promises it doesn't. Being imitators of him,  we should show the same love toward others that we experience from God at all times. 

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