The word perfect can make us cringe due to our humanity. The conclusion Jesus brings it to is for us to be like our Heavenly Father who is perfect and merciful. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:27-36 NIV Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48 NIV He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. In the two portions of scripture where Jesus elaborates on what He means by loving our enemies, He draws it to a conclusion. Loving others, even enemies, flows out of knowing love. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. One is simply because God said to, but the other is because God loved us first. There are two reasons for us to love our enemies. We can only love our enemies by trusting God to help us. It’s only by the grace of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, that we can love our enemies. If we try and love our enemies apart from the help of God it will not be true love. We aren’t able to love our enemies without the help of God. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies…īut to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies… But the direct instruction to love our enemies came from Jesus in His sermon on the mount. In Proverbs 25:21 we’re told to feed our enemy when he’s hungry.
In Proverbs 24:17 we’re told not to gloat when our enemy falls. We’ll look at what it means to love our enemies, why we would, and how it works, but first, we’ll start with who told us to do so. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil." ~ Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.
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