Matthew
5:43-48
Jesus
Teaches about Loving Your
Enemies
5:43
"You have heard that it was said,
'Love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.'
44
But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute
you,
45
that you may be sons of your
Father in heaven.
-
- He
causes the sun to rise on the
evil and the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous.
-
- 46
If you love those who love
you, what reward will you get?
Are not even the tax
collectors doing
that?
-
- 47
And if you greet only your
brothers, what are you doing
more than others? Do not even
pagans do
that?
-
48
Be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is
perfect."
-
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It
is meant to change the way
that we think, and the way
that we live.
Commentary
by Bob
Pardue
Jesus
Teaches about loving your
enemies
- When I
first started reading this
passage I was a little
confused. Love your enemies?
Then, as I read further to
chapter 46 I realized what
Jesus meant.
-
- It is
easy to love those who love us
back. We can love those people
with almost no effort on our
part. So, what did we
accomplish for God by loving
and cherishing
them?
-
By
teaching us not to retaliate,
Jesus keeps us from taking the
law into our own hands. By
loving and praying for our
enemies, we can overcome evil
with good.
-
- The
Pharisees interpreted
Leviticus 19:18 as teaching
that they should love only
those who love in return, and
Psalm 139:19-22 and 140:9-11
as meaning that they should
hate their
enemies.
-
- But
Jesus says we are to love our
enemies. If you love your
enemies and treat them well,
you will truly show that Jesus
is Lord of your
life.
-
- This is
possible only for those who
give themselves fully to God,
because only he can deliver
people from natural
selfishness.
-
- We must
trust the Holy Spirit to help
us show love to those
for whom we may not
feel love.
-
- I am
certainly not saying that we
shouldn't love our friends and
family, not at all. But as
Christians we should at least
make an effort to care for
those who hate us because that
is precisely what Christ did
when He died on the cross.
-
- He gave
his life for a world who hated
him so that we might have
life. Can we try to love those
who have wronged us and pray
for them?
Love in
Christ
-
Bob
If you have
never made the commitment to
receive the love and
life-changing experience of Jesus
Christ, please take a moment to
go
here
and take the first
steps
to salvation.
Bob
Pardue
is a member of First
Baptist
Church
in Lancaster, SC. He is ordained
from Rich Hill Baptist in
Lancaster.
Want
to place this passage and
commentary on your website or
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content?
This
article about Jesus and
retaliation may be freely
reprinted or distributed in its
entirety in any e-zine,
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and be included with every
reproduction of this report.
Bob
Verses are from Life
Application Study Bible: New
International Version
Comments are welcome.
Please email
me with any questions
or comments you may have.
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