Someone said this weekend that you do not have to wait for another person to say sorry to forgive them; forgiveness is in the heart. I often think about love the same way. I will be willing to love someone well as long as they are nice to me, but whenever they mess up, I build resentment. I think the same principle applies to this verse. We don’t need to wait for someone to love us before we love them; in fact, Jesus says if we do, we are no better than tax collectors. It is so backward. Our world, our culture, even our nature tell us to seek revenge. Or maybe not even that, but to wait until someone does something nice and then you will love them.
How can we do this? I think it starts with knowing who we are. We are broken, sinful people, and we are no different than our enemy except that we have a hope in eternal life. C.S. Lewis says this in his sermon titled The Weight of Glory: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” He is referring to our eternity; this earth is not our home, and we should not treat it as such. What if we looked at people who think, vote, look, and act differently than us as someone worth everlasting life? How much more would we love them? So here is a challenge for you today: first, identify your “enemy”, whoever that may be in your life. Secondly, pray for them and seek an opportunity to love them for who they are, as human beings.
Question: What is holding me back from loving my enemies? How can I love them this week?
Jesus, thank you for the cross. Thank you for your words, challenging us to reach higher than the world’s standards. Please help me to identify what holds me back from truly loving others, and put someone in my path today that I can share your love with. Amen.