"But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."
Luke 6:27-28
Yesterday – “Love loves the righteous, those who love and do right!”
Today:
How should I deal with someone who hates me and isn’t shy about letting me know? Sadly, in the lost world today, many people hate God, hate His Word, and hate anyone who follows Him. This is no surprise to us, but it does bring up the subject of how to treat them. The Old Testament law didn’t say much about it other than –
“Do not make attempts to get equal with one who has done you wrong, or keep hard feelings against the children of your people, but have love for your neighbor as for yourself: I am the Lord” [1] (Leviticus 19:18, BBE).
Did you notice that this command covered how to do the right thing for those who are like you, your own people? This taught the Children of Israel how to relate correctly to the Children of Israel. This tells us how to love those supposed to love us back. That’s good because we need to do that. But how about those who hate us? The Law doesn’t seem to help us here.
Until Jesus came, the world’s teaching on the matter seemed to say, just learn how to protect yourself from everybody else! But Jesus loved the world and went on a mission to “seek and save” the lost. He taught His disciples how to love those who hate us. In fact, in Luke 6, Jesus laid out some steps to help us with this.
“Jesus mentioned seven aspects of unconditional love. These actions, not done naturally by human nature, require supernatural enabling—and are thus proof of true righteousness” [2] (BKC).
1. Love your enemies (v. 27).
We never fight “fire with fire,” but we hit back against their hatred with love, Jesus’ kind.
2. Do good to those who hate you (v. 27).
We answer their hatred by actively and passively doing good to them.
3. Bless those who curse you (v. 28).
Their curses we answer with “God bless you!”
4. Pray for those who mistreat you (v. 28).
Our mistreatment adds them to our prayer list.
5. Do not retaliate (v. 29a).
We are not trying to “get even,” but our love goes way beyond anything they expect of us.
6. Give freely (vv. 29b–30).
Love looks for needs. We freely give of ourselves and what we have to meet their needs.
7. Treat others the way you want to be treated (v. 31).
We are generous in how we treat those who hate us.
Believers, these qualities are not impossible for us to do, but it will take a measure of God’s grace to love those who hate us. Pray much, speak and act humbly. But when we do these things, we are doing what Jesus did and what He wants us to do for His sake.
“Love loves those who hate us and do us wrong!”
Quote: “If you love only those who love you, should you get any special praise for doing that? No, even sinners love those who love them!” [3] (Luke 6:32, HSB).
[1] BBE is the Bible in Basic English version of the Bible.
[2] BKC, John A. Martin, “Luke,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 220–221. I have borrowed their “Seven Aspects of Unconditional Love,” each point is theirs. I have added my editorial comments to each of those qualities.
[3] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.