Love Neighbor and Enemies

Love Neighbor and Enemies (by David Peterson)

As part of His first message in “The Sermon on the Mount” Jesus states in Matthew 5:43-46; “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same?”

This is also reflected in Luke 6:27-28, and 32-36, and this sentiment of loving all of God’s people indiscriminately is called “common grace”. It is a universal love that comes from God for all of His creation. As difficult as it seems to do God is calling us to a higher game: God is love (1 John 4:8) and He expects us to love others as He has loved us.

Evangelical author and minister, AW Pink wrote: “One sin leads to another. Failure in our love to God always results in failure in our love to our neighbor.” This truth revealed by Pink comes from scripture and it points to our obedience to God’s word. In 1 John 2:5-6 it says: “But whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.”

St. Francis of Assissi wrote the hymn “Lord, Make Us Servants of Your Peace” and the first stanza reads;

Lord, make us servants of your peace:

where there is hate, may we sow love;

where there is hurt, may we forgive;

where there is strife, may we make one.

Assissi conveys the idea that we need to avoid, and eliminate, those human thoughts of putting others down, being unforgiving, and withholding love. In verse 4 he calls for us to love unselfishly, the whole intent of Christ’s words in Matthew 5.

Let us pray: Loving God, teach us to unselfishly love others, both friend and foe, and to love you with our whole heart, soul, and mind. Amen.