Good morning, and welcome to Grace For Another Morning.
“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 KJVGood morning.
Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke are difficult not because we fail to understand them, but because we understand them perfectly well.
“Love your enemies.”
Jesus did not say merely to avoid striking back. He did not say to tolerate them from a safe distance while quietly hoping life gives them what they deserve. He did not tell us simply to remain polite.
He said to love them.
Then He made the command even harder to misunderstand: bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you.
That kind of love does not come naturally.
When someone wounds us, misrepresents us, betrays us, mocks us, or deliberately makes life harder, everything within us may want justice immediately—and preferably with a front-row seat so we can watch it happen.
Jesus calls us somewhere else.
Loving an enemy does not mean pretending evil is good. It does not require us to trust someone who has proven untrustworthy, remain in an unsafe situation, or abandon wise boundaries. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not always the same thing, and love does not demand that we make ourselves available for repeated harm.
But love does change what we desire for the person who hurt us.
Instead of feeding bitterness, we pray.
Instead of returning cruelty for cruelty, we refuse to become cruel ourselves.
Instead of allowing someone else’s hatred to determine the condition of our heart, we place that person before God.
That may be one of the deepest reasons Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies.
Prayer changes the battlefield.
It is difficult to continually ask God to work in someone’s life while also nurturing fantasies of their destruction. Prayer forces us to remember that the person who wounded us is still a person God can reach.
And sometimes the first prayer is not particularly eloquent.
“Lord, I do not know how to love this person.”
That is still prayer.
“Lord, I am angry.”
That is still prayer.
“Lord, keep bitterness from taking root in me.”
That may be exactly the prayer we need.
Jesus did not command enemy-love because enemies deserve our affection. He commanded it because His followers are called to resemble Him.
At the cross, Jesus demonstrated a love that was not dependent upon how He was being treated.
That is the love He now calls us to practice.
Not sentimental love.
Not denial.
Not weakness.
A deliberate refusal to let hatred have the final word.
Grace for Today
Love Your Enemies
Matthew 5:44 KJV
“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;”
Devotional
Good morning.
Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke are difficult not because we fail to understand them, but because we understand them perfectly well.
“Love your enemies.”
Jesus did not say merely to avoid striking back. He did not say to tolerate them from a safe distance while quietly hoping life gives them what they deserve. He did not tell us simply to remain polite.
He said to love them.
Then He made the command even harder to misunderstand: bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you.
That kind of love does not come naturally.
When someone wounds us, misrepresents us, betrays us, mocks us, or deliberately makes life harder, everything within us may want justice immediately—and preferably with a front-row seat so we can watch it happen.
Jesus calls us somewhere else.
Loving an enemy does not mean pretending evil is good. It does not require us to trust someone who has proven untrustworthy, remain in an unsafe situation, or abandon wise boundaries. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not always the same thing, and love does not demand that we make ourselves available for repeated harm.
But love does change what we desire for the person who hurt us.
Instead of feeding bitterness, we pray.
Instead of returning cruelty for cruelty, we refuse to become cruel ourselves.
Instead of allowing someone else’s hatred to determine the condition of our heart, we place that person before God.
That may be one of the deepest reasons Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies.
Prayer changes the battlefield.
It is difficult to continually ask God to work in someone’s life while also nurturing fantasies of their destruction. Prayer forces us to remember that the person who wounded us is still a person God can reach.
And sometimes the first prayer is not particularly eloquent.
“Lord, I do not know how to love this person.”
That is still prayer.
“Lord, I am angry.”
That is still prayer.
“Lord, keep bitterness from taking root in me.”
That may be exactly the prayer we need.
Jesus did not command enemy-love because enemies deserve our affection. He commanded it because His followers are called to resemble Him.
At the cross, Jesus demonstrated a love that was not dependent upon how He was being treated.
That is the love He now calls us to practice.
Not sentimental love.
Not denial.
Not weakness.
A deliberate refusal to let hatred have the final word.
Grace for Today
You may not be able to change the person who opposes you today.
You can decide that their behavior will not decide the condition of your heart.
Ask God for the grace to respond in a way that looks more like Christ than like the injury you received.
Prayer
Father, loving those who love me is easy. Loving those who hurt me is not.
You know the people who have wounded me, disappointed me, spoken against me, or treated me unfairly. Keep bitterness from settling into my heart.
Give me wisdom where boundaries are necessary, courage where truth must be spoken, and grace where forgiveness is required.
Teach me to pray even for those I would rather avoid. Help me to desire Your work in their lives instead of their destruction.
Make my response more like Christ.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Closing Encouragement
Loving an enemy does not mean calling wrong right.
It means refusing to let someone else’s wrong teach your heart how to hate.
A Prayer for Today
Father, loving those who love me is easy. Loving those who hurt me is not.
You know the people who have wounded me, disappointed me, spoken against me, or treated me unfairly. Keep bitterness from settling into my heart.
Give me wisdom where boundaries are necessary, courage where truth must be spoken, and grace where forgiveness is required.
Teach me to pray even for those I would rather avoid. Help me to desire Your work in their lives instead of their destruction.
Make my response more like Christ.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Loving an enemy does not mean calling wrong right.
It means refusing to let someone else’s wrong teach your heart how to hate.