Love your enemies. Be kind to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who insult you.
Luke 6:27–28
The Mosaic law says this oldie but goodie: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Exod. 21:24). Getting even and standing up for yourself by giving as good as you got were allowed in the Old Testament days. But then along came the Christ and his radical message that turned this ancient way of thinking on its head. He started telling people to love their enemies and even to be kind to those who hated them (see Luke 6:27). What a shocking message! Imagine a world where everyone acted this way, where everyone loved other people better than themselves. Heaven, maybe? But in the reality of earth, Jesus’ teachings seem to make no sense; in fact, they sound downright insane. What about self-protection, defending your rights, and the all-important issue of fairness?
A lot of things in this world might make sense to you. Like Martha, you might worry about getting everything done (see Luke 10:38–42). Your eyes might be on the present problem and not the eternal God. But as a God Girl you can’t allow the urgent to come before the essential. The essential of your faith, as taught by Jesus himself, is to “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.’ And ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself’ ” (Luke 10:27). You can’t hate your enemies and obey Jesus. Not gonna happen. Nope, the answer is love.
As you study the life of Jesus, look at how Jesus loved his enemies, but don’t confuse that with how he rejected God’s enemies. And as you read Jesus’ words, think about what a shock to the system his renegade message would have been to his listeners—and in fact, what a shock it is even today.