October 1

“God says it is good to love our enemies, yet we might decide our task is to hold them responsible for their actions.  It is so important to hold ourselves accountable to God’s Word.  God does not need us to find exceptions for His commands.  He requires our obedience.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 9/19

We are often told to take the whole Bible in account when we seek God’s Will.  So how is it we so easily make exceptions for His command to love our enemy?  Throughout scripture we hear time and again the importance of love and forgiveness.  Surely we must take the scripture to love our enemy seriously.  To love one’s enemy begins with the very next person who opposes you.  This includes those who disagree with you as well as those who do not treat you fairly.  It might be the person who rushes in and takes the parking space you are about to turn into.  It’s the person who spreads lies about you so they can get the promotion.  It’s even the person who never thanks you for all that you’ve sacrificed for them.  But there’s another enemy that we don’t often acknowledge and that is ourselves.  We can be our own worst enemy at times.  It’s in loving ourselves in the way that God intends that we can begin to share the love that God pours into us.  To have a pure heart means that it cannot hold any hatred, not even toward ourselves.

“But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those wo curse you, pray for those who abuse you....And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.”  Luke  6:27, 28, 31