What makes that commandment so hard for us is that when we think of love, we think of the love we have for our spouse, or our parents, our siblings, our children. It is unimaginable to have the same feeling towards an enemy.
You’ve heard countless sermons about the different translations of the word love from the Greek. There is passionate love, brotherly love, Agape, love of country, self-love. So many different ideas. Allow me to suggest a different way to look at this ‘love thing’ than those specific meanings.
Maybe this idea will relieve some of the pressure you feel, and give you a freedom to move closer to doing what Jesus commands us. Notice that the second part of his statement in Luke is to “do good to those who hate you.”
Do good! Isn’t that what we have been talking about in our Care and Kindness Campaign? Be kind. Be generous. Be caring; show caring to others — to those who are hurting.
Ah-hah! How about that word, “show”? How do we show kindness?
How do we show generosity? It is through the actions that we take, isn’t it? It is through what we DO that others see us as offering care to them. So when Jesus says, “do good to those who hate you,” do you think we could rephrase that to say “show love to those who hate you”?
Is that something you could imagine doing — show love? We don’t have to feel love. Our message in Care and Kindness has long been that ‘love’ is an action, rather than a feeling.
Could you undertake an action toward an enemy that would ‘do good’, that would ‘show love’? As one preacher said, “You don’t have to like them.” But could you do something for them that would be doing good?
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