Luke 6
Read: Luke 6
Luke 6 is so full of good content, I could probably write ten devotions on this day. But instead of doing that, I’m going to focus on verses 27-36. In three little words, Jesus flipped the world upside down. “Love your enemies” is one of Jesus’ most difficult teachings. No one naturally wants to do that! We hate our enemies, and we do whatever we can to pay them back for whatever evil they do to us. It’s about getting even, not about blessing them. Jesus said what credit is it to you if you love like everyone else? Everyone loves their family and friends, but loving an enemy requires sacrifice. It requires sacrificing our pride and choosing to love someone when they are not lovable.
I think there are at least two reasons Jesus thinks this is so important. First, it is good for us. Loving our enemies forces us to forgive them and it teaches us about the sacrificial nature of love. Jesus loved his enemies by sacrificing his life on the cross! Love isn’t just a feeling and forgiveness isn’t just something we say. It is demonstrated by our actions, and sacrifice is a powerful action that forces our hearts to change in a way that better honors God. Secondly, loving our enemies is good for them. Proverbs 25:21-22 says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” By loving, serving, and sacrificing for our enemies, we can lead them to a place where the Holy Spirit can convict them and lead them to repentance.
Years ago, a group of missionaries went to Ecuador to reach an aggressive tribe in the jungles. The men from the tribe speared the missionary men to death. Because their families loved these people even though they were their enemies, they continued to pray for them until God opened up a door for the missionary families to go and live amongst this tribe. This gave them the opportunity to share Christ with the people. As a result many in the tribe repented and surrendered their lives to Jesus. In our society, if Christians really did this sort of thing, imagine what a difference it could make! Instead we fight and bicker on social media over our political preferences, while our opponents never see the love of Jesus in us. Let’s love our enemies so when we disagree with them on legitimate real world issues, our character won’t taint our message.
