You have heard the law that says, “Love your neighbor” and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! [Matthew 5:43-44 (NLT)]
When thou hatest the man’s sins, thou art not to hate him, but to love the sinner, even as Christ loved sinners. [C.H. Spurgeon]
Evil is anything that contradicts the nature of God and it’s easy to see Satan’s presence in malevolent acts like terrorism, genocide, slavery, torture, and human trafficking. The enemy, however, is usually far more subtle. Evil also includes things like anger, pride, fretfulness, immorality, pettiness, selfishness, deceit, envy, spite, unforgiveness, hatred, hypocrisy, envy, jealousy, greed, and unkindness. Although we’re more likely to find them in our hearts than genocide or murder, they’re not as easy to recognize. Because it’s easier to see the evil done by others than it is to face the evil in our hearts, we don’t spot Satan when he comes slithering into our lives.
When seeing how innocent people are suffering because of the indifference, injustice, viciousness, bigotry, and greed of various governments and leaders, it’s easy to get outraged and aggravated. Satan wants that anger to grow and develop in us. He loves anger because our wrath, spite, contempt, disdain, and condemnation diminish us, the Christ within us, and our witness. Nevertheless, it’s easy to be angry and wish disaster on any one of today’s evil leaders and their ilk.
That we never would physically harm someone doesn’t make our anger less a sin than if we murdered them! That we’re angry on someone else’s behalf or that the other people’s sins have harmed people while ours have harmed no one (but ourselves) is of no matter. Malicious hatred and private vengeance have no place in our hearts. They are an offense to God and Jesus made it clear that hating someone is committing murder in our hearts! While we can be angry at sin, let us remember that we don’t defeat evil with more of the same! Rather than wanting to afflict our enemies, Jesus asks us to love and pray for them.
Struggling with praying for his enemies during World War II, the great C.S. Lewis admitted that “charity (in our prayers) is very hard work.” The theologian questioned how one can pray for Stalin and Hitler and still make the prayer real. He found it helped him to remember that Christ died for those very men and that he was joining his “feeble little voice” to that of Jesus. Recognizing his own sins of cruelty and unkindness, Lewis humbly realized he wasn’t that different from his enemies; he was no less a sinner than were these horrible men. He also considered the possibility that, under different circumstances, he could have “blossomed” into someone equally as terrible as were they.
Before hating the evil in the world, we must begin by hating the evil in ourselves! Let us surrender our vengeful thoughts to Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and allow His love to rule our hearts as we pray for our enemies. We can’t do it on our own but, through the power of the Holy Spirit, it can and must be done!
Agape is disinterested love. Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people, or any qualities people possess. It begins by loving others for their sakes. Therefore, agape makes no distinction between friend and enemy; it is directed toward both. [Martin Luther King, Jr.]
When writing about nitroglycerin recently, I realized there’s something else in our lives much like this strange chemical that is both helpful and harmful. Like nitroglycerin, man’s capabilities are a dichotomy between good and evil, constructive and destructive, and beneficial or detrimental. The same mind capable of creating a vaccine that saves thousands of lives is capable of creating a nuclear bomb that can take those lives. James speaks of this incongruity when writing about the way we use our words, “We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people, whom God made like himself. Praises and curses come from the same mouth! My brothers and sisters, this should not happen.” [3:9-10]
The two were seated next to us on the patio; the frail elderly woman was the mother and the younger woman her daughter. After pondering the menu, the mother had all sorts of questions about it. In no rush to order, she dithered over her entrée choice and, once food was served, she lingered over it. As I observed the two women, I could see and hear the daughter’s growing frustration and impatience with her mother. They reminded me of the times I took my mother-in-law out to lunch. Having “been there and done that,” I wanted to tell the daughter to be patient. One day, mom would be gone and she’d wish they had more days together.
It’s often said, “Like father, like son,” and that was true of my father-in-law and his sons. Although they weren’t carbon copies of their dad, the boys shared several characteristics with the man who fathered them. In the same way, because God created us in His image, we share some of His characteristics. Of course, there are many important ways we are not like our Creator—He is all-knowing, eternal, all-powerful, and ever-present. Without a physical body, we don’t have things like God’s nose, hair color, or smile. Nevertheless, we do resemble Him in the spiritual, moral, and intellectual attributes of our nature that distinguish us from the rest of the animal world.
Earlier this week, I wrote about my nephew Johnny’s baptism in my mother’s hospital room. Because she was at death’s door, my brother took emergency leave and he and I served as the baby’s sponsors in Baptism (or Godparents).
Mark tells of a time when a hungry Jesus cursed a fig tree and caused it to wither and die simply because it had no figs. As the only destructive miracle done by the Lord, His action is difficult to understand, especially since we’re told “it was too early in the season for fruit.” The same power that brought Lazarus back to life and turned water into wine easily could have given the tree ripe figs, so why did Jesus kill the fruitless tree?
Devotions of the Heart 