Matthew 5:43-45
43 “You have heard that it was said,‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 [o]But I say to you,love your enemies, bless those who curse you,do good to those who hate you, and prayfor those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Quickword: The Call to Love
This particular passage is pulled from the the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus explains what being a true follower of his teachings require. Matthew 5:43-45 calls us to love. This call is not simply to love those who love us but to love those who are our enemies. This call from Jesus is still relevant today for as true followers of Christ we must love our enemies:
- We are called to bless those who curse us
- We are called to do good to those who hate us
- We are called to pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us
My brothers and my sisters I know, I know that what Jesus calls us to due is counterintuitive to our human nature. It’s counterintuitive to love our enemies. Our human nature is challenged to bless those who curse us and to do good to those who hate us and to pray for those who use us and persecute us. We cannot do this alone, we must allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. When we are attacked, what is in us will come out. The evidence of our relationship and walk with God is that we can meet hate with love, we can pray for our enemies. So today and everyday we must equip ourselves with the word of God; read scripture, pray, sing praises unto God, for in order for us to meet the call to love we must fill ourselves with the love of Jesus. We will not be perfect but the more we allow the spirit of God to lead us, the ability to meet the call to love becomes a part of who we we are, the sons and daughters of God.
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