{LOVE EXPANDS ;}

In Jesus day, the religious believed only those of their country, nation, religious beliefs were their friends. It was all very insular. Cliquish! “BUT GOD….” blows that mentality out of the water when Jesus says, ” 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;” His love is beyond the cliques and religious national allegiances, He is concerned with the souls of ALL. His Love is EXPANSIVE. His Love is EMBRACING of All People. And so He shows them, in the face of opposition….

HOW TO PRACTICALLY LOVE YOUR ENEMIES ;{ Matt 5:44}

* BLESS THEM

* DO GOOD

* PRAY FOR THEM.

And note, in each case their enemies were actively opposed to them with actions which He names, ” enemies…curse you…hate you… despitefully use you… and persecute you…” and each sin of opposition is to be responded to with Love! Not the fuzzy feeling that evaporates with a change of emotion, but a laying down of one’s life, to benefit the other, seeking nothing in return but their highest spiritual good and God’s honor… Love is an act of the will! Love chooses to meet such hostility an evil venom with LOVE manifested in choices such as thinking how to respond and chooses instead not evil but to BLESS, Speak well of…DO GOOD… which is to do that which is  beneficial.. And PRAY… interceding before God, on their behalf. LOVE IS ACTIVE! LOVE IS THOUGHTFUL. LOVE IS LOVING, IN THE FACE OF HOSTILITY. Love is the hallmark of the Christian. “By this ALL men will know you are My disciples by YOUR LOVE for one another…”{John 13:34-35} we are called not only to love one another, BUT LOVE OUR “ENEMIES”. LOVE is deliberate! Loving those who are your enemies, be it in your home, work, school, is ACTIVE…

* BLESS THEM

* DO GOOD TO THEM

* PRAY FOR THEM

And in doing so, you are LOVING, as God says how to love! It has nothing to do with how you “feel,” but everything to do with the faithfulness of your Savior who laid His life down for you, so that you may not die in your sin but live in “newness of life” and be a minister of LOVE towards the loveless! Love is the taking of a bowl and towel and washing the feet of those whom you know will deny you, forsake you as Jesus did with the disciples. It is to take the low place to serve others. Love is the cross. It is the giving of one self totally for the benefit of one’s enemies as Jesus did. Though we are not called to die on a cross for the sins of others. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him daily. To deny ourselves is to disown, to take up our cross is to say no to self, Yes to Jesus and to follow Him. It is the way of obedient faith seeking to do the Father’s will, to Glorify His Name! So we are to Bless, speak well of. Do good, and remember in doing good it is His business to work out and He does,”…that men may SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS…AND….GLORIFY…YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN…”{Matt 5}. There IS PURPOSE in your DOING GOOD… it is that they may see and end with GLORIFYING YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN… So you do good for HIS SAKE! That is your motivation in the midst of difficulty and pain… for your FATHERS SAKE. You choose to DO GOOD and persevere in doing good. You have a higher reason and motive… for your FATHER’S GLORY!

Love is not mindless. Love is thoughtful. Love is a choice. Loves motivation is “…ourselves your servants for Jesus sake.”{2 Cor 4:5}. Love seeks to serve others, including ones enemies because it is His desire, His mandate and you have the POWER to do so!

THE PAIN OF LOVING;

Is it easy? NO! Is it nice to have people curse you…hate you…despitefully use you and persecute you? No! Does it give you all warm and fuzzy “loving feelings” No. It can be very painful. Jesus on one occasion said your enemies will be those of your own household! How painful is that! The “natural” tendency is to withdraw, curl up in an emotional ball, licking your wounds and hurts, which is very understandable. To love and be rejected is painful. But this is not your end, these responses are not the authority in the matter but what it does is give you OPPORTUNITY to LOVE, God’s way and in doing so demonstrate the LOVE OF GOD to them. Is there any guarantee they will be won over? NO! But there is the guarantee you are doing things His way! Love is being manifested!

THE TESTIMONY OF LOVE

LOVE IS TESTIFYING TO JESUS CHRIST…”By THIS ALL MEN WILL KNOW YOU ARE…MY…DISCIPLES… BY YOUR LOVE” Note “ALL men” your love is not aimless, futile, but in the spiritual realm God is at work where all people will be able to identify you as a lover of Jesus Christ. How? By the way you LOVE Others!! And it will lead as the verse says… to HIM….” ALL men WILL KNOW…You are MY DISCIPLE…” It leads back to HIM… People equating such love, a life laid down to benefit others as being one of HIS, of that is how HIS BEHAVE…. they are known for their LOVE! While an army is identified y it’s uniform, a sports team likewise by the colors, the Christian is identified through their LOVE! Lives lived LOVING others! No, not perfection but this is the new direction of their new lives! LOVE TESTIFIES- I, WE BELONG TO JESUS!

 THE PREEMINENCE OF LOVE;

“LOVE never fails”{1 Cor 13}.The word “fails” was used of a leaf that falls from a tree and decays…Love does not decay! Love chooses to keep loving, one thought, and one action at a time…

Keep loving, one THOUGHT in choosing to DO so at a time, For JESUS SAKE!

Got “enemies? “You have His Word to instruct you how to RESPOND His Way. Thank God we are not left to our own understanding, but have His Word to instruct us.

You CAN LOVE, your Enemies… You CAN BLESS them. You CAN DO GOOD to them. You CAN PRAY for them…and in doing so you ARE LOVING… YOU’RE ENEMIES…

DO YOU KNOW WHY AND HOW TO LOVE YOUR ENEMIES?

  • Because it testifies to belonging to JESUS CHRIST
  • and by doing good it causes the to see and GLORIFY Your Heavenly Father 
  • these are TWO MOTIVATIONS TO KEEP BEFORE YOU…CHOOSING TO LOVE TESTIFIES TO JESUS CHRIST AND GLORIFIES YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN! You have reasons to LOVE…. when you don’t”feel” like it, when you are rejected, maligned, you have  a Higher purpose, you have the PERSON of God that you are living before, representing and your love exalts HIM who first loved you. Remember Romans 5 we too at one stage were His “enemies…ungodly…sinners…helpless…” BUT GOD by His grace, used someone to speak into our lives, and His Spirit convicted us and converted us and shed abroad the love of God in our hearts to assure us we are His and then commands us to go forth and LOVE, and tells us HOW AND WHY….

 Hmm…Woke up this morning with that verse on my mind, “Love your enemies…” and how? Bless them, Do good and Pray for them. This is God’s PRESCRIPTION for us and with it comes His POWER TO LOVE – {2 Pet 1:3-4}

TODAY… CHOOSE…TO…LOVE

Aidan