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SCRIPTURE READINGS
GENESIS 45:3-11,15
1 CORINTHIANS 15:42-50
LUKE 6:27-38

REFLECTION

Love your enemies is the theme for our reflection. Love your enemies means showing unconditional affection for our enemies or those who hate us. An enemy is a person who is actively opposed or hostile to you. He or she seeks to injure or harm you. Today, we are being reminded that the foundation of the Christian Gospel is love; therefore, we must love our enemies.

1. Loving our enemies is hard instruction but it fulfils God’s will and purpose in our lives.
2. We must love our enemies because the core message of the Gospel is love.

Jesus gives one of the hardest instructions on how we must treat those who oppose us or are hostile to us and seek our downfall or destruction. Jesus teaches us to “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you… (Luke 6:27-28). We must learn to see God’s purpose and will even in the hatred and mistreatment we suffer in the hands of our enemies. Joseph’s example is instructive when he said to his brothers who were once upon a time his avowed enemies “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt…And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him. (Genesis 45:4-8,15) Dear friend, our enemies might have been wicked to us in the past but God remains sovereign. He can use the evil plans of our enemies to fulfil His purpose or will in our lives. It is for this reason we must not hold onto past hurts and grudges but like Joseph love our enemies and help them.

Beloved in the Lord, the core message of the Gospel is love. It is this love that Jesus redeemed us from the Adamic curse and gave us access to become citizens of heaven and children of God thus Paul wrote, “…just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. 50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:49-50 ) Again, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). God’s love through Jesus Christ is overwhelmingly unconditional such that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) In other words, Christ died for us when we were still enemies of God. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10-11). Even on the cross, Jesus demonstrated His unconditional love for his enemies and prayed for them saying “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). It is for this reason, that we have become beneficiaries of God’s love and grace.

Beloved in the Lord, having experienced the unconditional love of God, Jesus now instructs us to show everyone including our enemies the unconditional love we first received from God when we were also His enemies and unworthy to be called the children of God. For most of us and according to the logic of the world, it is absurd to love our enemies but again, it makes perfect sense when we remember the words of Paul when he wrote that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15-16) Beloved in the Lord, let us love everyone including our enemies. Let us forgive them, be good to them, pray for them and treat them with dignity for this is the will of God. May those who also perceive us as enemies, forgive us, be good to us, pray for us and treat us with dignity for it is the will of God. It is important to note that there is an eternal reward for loving your enemies. Jesus assures us that ” your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High…, (Luke 6:35)

What about if you love your enemies but they never change but are still bent on destroying you? Paul gives us a very refreshing and satisfying response when he wrote “Repay no one evil for evil but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21). In other words, let us love our enemies, it is not our responsibility to avenge ourselves against our enemies. Our lives are in God’s hands and “thus says the LORD to you, Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s (2 Chronicles 20:15).

In summary, we have discovered that “Love our enemies” is a hard instruction but fulfils God’s will and purpose in our lives. Again, we must love our enemies because the core message of the Gospel is love.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, may your perfect example of unconditional love fill our hearts and actions. May we be greatly encouraged and empowered by the Holy Spirit to love our enemies even when it becomes challenging emotionally to do so. Amen.