LOVE: PRAYING AND BLESSING AN ENEMY

Matthew 5:43-48 >>

Teaching about Love for Enemies

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

—

1. Some tips Jesus gave us on how to treat our ‘enemy/enemies,’ which may be people who do not like us and/or people we do not like are

to love them, pray for them, and be kind to them. This, then, is imitating the character of our Father in Heaven, for He gives His “sunlight to both the (good) and the (evil)(v.45).”

2. Self reflection: There are people that I don’t like and/or people that don’t like me. The reason for that dislike is I believe a clash in personalities. When I meet this person or these people, I feel uncomfortable and like they are standoffish to me. And what I’m thinking about when I meet them is how unpleasant it is, lol. I know it’s terrible, and I want to act as God wants me to. I want to practice praying for them and sincerely being kind to them and doing good towards them, not just putting on a kindness mask when inside I don’t like them at all.

To Love Is a Commandment

Matthew 22:36-40
36″Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

–

1. The two main laws God wants me to put into practice is first, to “love the LORD my God with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind (v.37b).” The second is not as great, but equally important, and that is to “Love (my) neighbor as myself.”
2. I remember in another verse in the Bible it says that “without love, I am nothing.” I can prophesy, minister and do all these supposedly great works, but it is like a clashing cymbal if without love. And since God is love, how are we showing God to others if not with love? Lord, I am sorry if I have done actions that have NOT shown your love to others. Please restore and bring reconciliation and healing to those relationships. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Understanding New Love in Christ

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Romans 8:35-39

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[a] 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—

1. Something that has made my love to Christ fade away before was my lack of building a relationship with Christ, or me just doing things out of tradition’s sake and not out of my first love for Christ.
2. Yet those who maintain their love to Christ, even in suffering, will have the victory. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus, actually–that’s what verse 38 says!!! “…neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” AMEN!