504 -- Loving the Enemies
June 27 (6/27) in Godsfield -- Luke 6:27
(For Better or Verse: Each day in 2025 I will begin this Godsfield e-mail with a Bible verse that corresponds with the month (chapter 1-12) and day (verse 1-31) it is sent. This month features a lot of sixth chapters! Those with eyes and ears, let them see and hear.)
Luke 6:27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
This is where Jesus loses a lot of people. This is where the cost becomes high in the hearts of those whose hearts aren't yet his. This is where people begin to fidget and shuffle feet, and grumble and make excuses.
Love enemies, do good to those who hate you. I'm sure Jesus said it to set his followers apart from average run-of-the-mill "what can he do for me" observers.
No one loves an enemy unless the heart is given -- given -- the ability. We don't grow that on our own; it has to be handed to us, applied upon us, empowered in us.
Enter Jesus. Into the heart.
This is the beginning of such instructions (notice the comma at the end of the verse), the fullness of which takes a few verses and concludes with the Golden Rule (not to be confused with the Golden Ruler that I had in fifth grade, with this written on it) : Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Even if you don't get the results you were hoping for, and most of the time, you won't.)
By the way, that would have been next Tuesday's verse, if only June had 31 days.
Love your enemies -- it's great discussion fodder, wonderful theory, but only valuable when applied, because, again, that is the evidence that Jesus owns the heart. It's not a legal thing, but a natural one.
People can love without claiming Jesus as their Lord, but they do not love without the love of God influencing them, and Jesus is the exemplar of love.
Don't go looking for enemies, they will find you, but consider those who you know to be enemies and decide in advance how you will respond, then respond. We all can use the practice!
In 1865, near the end of the Civil War, when Congress was discussing how to deal with the southern states, the Confederacy, following the war, President Abraham Lincoln put out several plans to help the states recover.
It infuriated some of the northern congressmen who complained that we should be finding ways to destroy our enemies.
Lincoln, who knew that the South was more like the Prodigal Son, and in need of returning to the family, said to the Congressman: SIr, do we not destroy an enemy when they become our friend?
That is the thinking of Jesus. And be not blind. There will be a cost; Lincoln would be dead by an enemy's bullet only a month later.
That love in your heart? Put there by Jesus? Let it out on your enemies.
Love ya,
Paul