Love Your Enemies

 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 Matthew 5:44 

   By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another John 13:35

The word "love" is used over 300 times in the Bible. God is described as love, it's who he is (1 John 4:8). We, Christians, are told to love. The first and greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love others (Matthew 22:38).

God would not constantly tell us to love if he did not mean it. As an English teacher, I teach students to understand that if an author repeats something continuously, then he is trying to express its importance.  

Even though God wants us to walk in love, I realize that it is something some of us struggle with. In fact, last year, seeds of hatred and bitterness started to take root in my heart. I never realized all of the things teachers have to deal with until I became one. Honestly, the biggest challenge for me is dealing with different personalities. I have had kids call me out of my name, roll their eyes at me, spread rumors about me, talk about me on social media, and basically attempt to make my life miserable. Truthfully, it worked. My heart that was once softened for teenagers became hardened and calloused.

I would lift my hands in worship, serve in the church, and encourage others in the Lord. But my heart wasn't right.

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 1 John 4:20-21

You cannot hate your neighbor and say that you love God. It's oil and water, it simply does not go together. You see, I thought I was fine.

I have the right to be angry. I am justified in my anger. I cannot love someone like that. I will forgive them later. You don't know what they did to me. They make my job horrible.

You see, I knew the truth. I just choose to believe my own lies. The Bible is pretty clear when it says to love your neighbor. You cannot pick and choose to love who you want.

When you let anger, unforgiveness, and hatred brew in your heart it grieves the Holy Spirit living within you. God is patient with us, and he will give us prompting in our spirits to surrender the workings of the flesh to him. However, God is too pure to live within a person who shuns his commands and rejects his words (Ephesians 4:30-32).

So you may be asking yourself, "Okay, so how do I love my enemies?"

Follow the steps in Matthew 5:44:

Love your enemies 

Bless them that curse you

         Do good to them that hate you

         Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you 

I'm still dealing with difficult people. But I realize I cannot call myself a Christian, and not act like Christ. Even while Jesus was on the cross dying for our sins, he forgave the people who nailed him there (Luke 23:34).
                                                                                                      


Thanks to God, I have forgiveness and love for everyone now. It did not happen over night for me, it took time and help from the Holy Spirit. But seriously, I don't have time to harbor unforgiveness; I need God to forgive me of my many, many  sins (Matthew 6:15).



So yes, bad things can happen to you, people can do you wrong, and life does not go as planned. But in every moment, ask God to help you to forgive and love over and over again (Matthew 18:21-22).


Be blessed.

Courtney