How can we love our enemies?
An enemy is "one who is hostile to or opposes the purposes or interests of another".
I am certain that Jesus understood the difficulty inherent in the act of loving one’s enemy. He realized that every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God. So when Jesus said “Love your enemy,” he was not unmindful of its stringent qualities. Yet he meant every word of it. Our responsibility as Christians is to discover the meaning of this command and seek passionately to live it out in our daily lives.
First we need to understand the different meanings of love. Unlike English, in which the word love means many different things, Ancient Greek had four words to describe the range of meaning that our word love conveys. The bible uses three of these words. The meaning of love is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. We can say we love ice cream but that has a completely different meaning then to say we love our children. Let’s look at the three Greek words for love used in the Bible. They are eros, philia and agape. Agape is the one used in Mat 5:44 where Jesus told us to love our enemies.
1. Eros - The word eros is a sort of emotional or romantic love.
2. Philia - The word philia is a friendly feeling or affection such as friendship between friends.
3. Agape - Selfless love of one person for another. Especially love that is spiritual in nature.
The word agape is goodwill for all people. It’s a love which seeks nothing in return, agape is the love of God operating in the human heart. At this level, we love others not because we like them, nor because their ways appeal to us, nor even because they possess some type of divine spark; we love everyone because God loves them. At this level, we love the person who does an evil deed, although we hate the deed that he does.
Now we can see what Jesus meant when he said, “Love your enemies.” We should be happy that he did not say, “Like your enemies.” It is almost impossible to like some people. “Like” is a sentimental and affectionate word. How can we be affectionate toward a person whose purpose is to crush our very being and place innumerable stumbling blocks in our path? How can we like a person who is threatening our children and bombing our homes? That is impossible. But Jesus recognized that love is greater than like. When Jesus bids us to love our enemies, he is speaking neither of eros nor philia; he is speaking of agape understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all people. Only by following this way and responding with this type of love are we able to be children of our Father who is in heaven.
We now know how we should love our enemies but why should we love our enemies? The first reason is fairly obvious. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable warning.
Another reason why we must love our enemies is that hate scars the soul and distorts the personality. Mindful that hate is an evil and dangerous force, we too often think of what it does to the person hated. This is understandable, for hate brings irreversible damage to its victims.
But there is another side which we must never overlook. Hate is just as injurious to the person who hates. Like an unchecked cancer, hate changes the personality and destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity.
An even more basic reason why we are commanded to love is expressed in Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies . . . that ye may be children of your Father which is in heaven.” We are called to this difficult task in order to realize a unique relationship with God. We must love our enemies, because only by loving them can we know God and experience the beauty of his holiness.
SUMMARY
To love our enemies is talking about a love that is spiritual in nature. Even though we may not like them we should love them in a spiritual way and always be willing to pray for them. Always remember what God brought us out of.
An enemy is "one who is hostile to or opposes the purposes or interests of another".
I am certain that Jesus understood the difficulty inherent in the act of loving one’s enemy. He realized that every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God. So when Jesus said “Love your enemy,” he was not unmindful of its stringent qualities. Yet he meant every word of it. Our responsibility as Christians is to discover the meaning of this command and seek passionately to live it out in our daily lives.
First we need to understand the different meanings of love. Unlike English, in which the word love means many different things, Ancient Greek had four words to describe the range of meaning that our word love conveys. The bible uses three of these words. The meaning of love is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. We can say we love ice cream but that has a completely different meaning then to say we love our children. Let’s look at the three Greek words for love used in the Bible. They are eros, philia and agape. Agape is the one used in Mat 5:44 where Jesus told us to love our enemies.
1. Eros - The word eros is a sort of emotional or romantic love.
2. Philia - The word philia is a friendly feeling or affection such as friendship between friends.
3. Agape - Selfless love of one person for another. Especially love that is spiritual in nature.
The word agape is goodwill for all people. It’s a love which seeks nothing in return, agape is the love of God operating in the human heart. At this level, we love others not because we like them, nor because their ways appeal to us, nor even because they possess some type of divine spark; we love everyone because God loves them. At this level, we love the person who does an evil deed, although we hate the deed that he does.
Now we can see what Jesus meant when he said, “Love your enemies.” We should be happy that he did not say, “Like your enemies.” It is almost impossible to like some people. “Like” is a sentimental and affectionate word. How can we be affectionate toward a person whose purpose is to crush our very being and place innumerable stumbling blocks in our path? How can we like a person who is threatening our children and bombing our homes? That is impossible. But Jesus recognized that love is greater than like. When Jesus bids us to love our enemies, he is speaking neither of eros nor philia; he is speaking of agape understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all people. Only by following this way and responding with this type of love are we able to be children of our Father who is in heaven.
We now know how we should love our enemies but why should we love our enemies? The first reason is fairly obvious. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable warning.
Another reason why we must love our enemies is that hate scars the soul and distorts the personality. Mindful that hate is an evil and dangerous force, we too often think of what it does to the person hated. This is understandable, for hate brings irreversible damage to its victims.
But there is another side which we must never overlook. Hate is just as injurious to the person who hates. Like an unchecked cancer, hate changes the personality and destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity.
An even more basic reason why we are commanded to love is expressed in Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies . . . that ye may be children of your Father which is in heaven.” We are called to this difficult task in order to realize a unique relationship with God. We must love our enemies, because only by loving them can we know God and experience the beauty of his holiness.
SUMMARY
To love our enemies is talking about a love that is spiritual in nature. Even though we may not like them we should love them in a spiritual way and always be willing to pray for them. Always remember what God brought us out of.
