Love Your Enemies

If I asked you today, “Who are your enemies?” perhaps many of you would say you don’t have any enemies.  Maybe so, if you define an enemy as some anonymous person taking potshots at you with a loaded gun.  But maybe we need to stretch our view of who an enemy might be.  Could someone in your family be an enemy?  A sister in-law or mother-in-law?  A parent?  Someone with whom you work?  Someone you’re in competition with?  How do we go about loving the enemies that are close to home?  How do we overcome the urge to retaliate, to say no to our instinct for revenge against those who mistreat us?  Why this message on Valentine’s Day?  Perhaps this message is more applicable to love and marriage than we care to admit.  It’s not natural to love our enemies, but it’s not impossible.  To say that it is impossible makes God a liar.  Having said this, however, we’re painfully aware of our shortcomings in this regard.  Thank God for the mercy we find at the cross of Christ.  Read Luke 6:27-36 and for good measure, listen to the audio file of today’s message.

Love Your Enemies