God commands us to love our enemies, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us. (Mt_5:44) This is so unnatural for most of us it’s almost scary; we deeply struggle to seek the best for those who’re harming us. Is this because we’re afraid justice won’t be honored? Let’s see.
Think of such a person, someone who’s done you much evil (2Ti 4:14), someone you have a difficult time loving, helping and serving. Are you wishing them the best, and acting accordingly? Does the thought of them being blessed and doing well threaten you and make you uneasy?
Now, imagine they have a new form of cancer, and they’re clueless about it. In a few days the disease will begin attacking their central nervous system, compromising all voluntary movement and causing intense pain. The pain will continually increase while their ability to move and respond diminishes. Conscious, yet completely immobilized, they’ll spend the rest of their lives in the most extreme suffering imaginable.
If it’s any easier now to serve and bless and pray for them sincerely, the cause is unbelief. If we don’t believe justice will prevail, in the perfect time and in the perfect way, we don’t trust in the ultimate goodness of God, and it will be difficult for us to love as He has commanded.
Our intrinsic desire for justice is good; we’re all made in God’s image. God is just, and we instinctively align with Him in calling for wrongs to be made right. But God forbids us to retaliate: vengeance belongs to Him (He 10:30) since all sin is primarily against Him. (Ps 51:4)
If we think we know better than God how and when to apply justice, that we’re somehow thwarting justice in loving the wicked, it’s because we don’t know the end of the story, how God’s going to right all wrongs perfectly, in the perfect way at the perfect time, in spite of the fact that we’re blessing our enemies. (Pr 16:4)
Neglecting to love our enemies, to seek their welfare as appropriate (Pr 25:21), is actually being passive aggressive (Pr 24:17-18); it’s withholding proper good from them to try to force God to judge them (Pr 3:27), according to our own purpose and timing rather than His. It’s seeking a sort of back-handed vengeance, denying God what’s rightfully His.
To overcome this we must be convinced that the judgement of God is according to truth in dealing with every single sin that’s ever been committed by anyone. (Ro 2:2) All sin will be perfectly accounted for and dealt with, completely and ultimately and finally. (Ge 18:25) The truth is that God will be much more severe in His response to sin than we can possibly imagine. The worst tortures human beings can devise pale in comparison. (Mt 10:28) It’s only as we’re armed with this knowledge that we will be empowered to love our enemies as God has commanded us to.
But what if we perceive our enemies to be believers, justified by the death of Christ such that they’ll get a free pass, Christ becoming their sin and taking their due punishment, setting them free? The problem with this concern is that it’s unfounded: every believer in Jesus Christ both loves Him (1Co 16:22), and also loves all those that belong to Him. (1Jn 5:1) Deceived believers who willfuly harm us will be fully dealt with in this life – no exceptions. (1Pe 4:17) No one gets away with anything. (1Co 11:32)
When we’re struggling with loving our enemies, we must keep the end in mind, the goal, trusting in the ultimate love and justice of God. While keeping healthy boundaries and protecting ourselves, there’s no room for malice; we must benevolently pursue the ultimate welfare of those who hate us, and leave the outcome to God. He must let His enemies act like enemies in order to reveal Himself and them. (Ec 8:11) In the end, He will be glorified in every single event that has ever transpired. (Ro 11:36); For those of us who love Him, this is enough (Ro 8:36-37); He’s working it all out for our good according to His purpose. (Ro 8:28)
Loving our enemies doesn’t mean we’re nice to them, or that we must go out of our way to make their lives easy, or neglect our own interests. We’re to love our enemies as ourselves, not more than ourselves. We can still be righteously angry (Ep 4:26), set proper boundaries (Mt 7:6), and defend and protect ourselves. (Lk 22:36)
A good indication of the spirit of this is Romans 12:20: “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.” When a person’s life is in danger due to a lack of basic necessities, benevolent charity must prevail. This is evidently a type of boundary condition, indicating the type and kind of love we’re to have for our enemies in an appropriate context.
We must not wish anyone undue harm outside the judgement of God Himself; every soul is made in the image of God and is thus as valuable and loved as we are, and humility reminds us that we’d likely deserve worse were it not for the grace of God.
In the imaginary cancer story above, if you were happy that the person was going to suffer, immanently and intensely and indefinitely — this is not good. God is so concerned with our inappropriate rejoicing in the suffering of the wicked that He limits the timing and intensity of His justice in order to avoid this.
“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” (Pr 24:17-18)
Tim,
Your notes especially reflect a depth of pondering. It is often too easy to hold a grudge — our response to others in our lives at times may be a mirror of our [own heart] so we can better know where we have need to grow. Think of something simple like [long-suffering]. Meditate on it for a few months in relation to others that “irritate” you at times :). Then add in the term [loving kindness]. Does my heart reflect [long suffering] with [loving kindness]. The attitude of my heart too often shows a need, a real need, to grow. And Jehovah [Abba] is most likely just showing us the minimum of what we can handle 🙂 by Messiah in us, and His Blood shed for us. Cause on my own, long suffering with loving kindness will not triumph. Thanks be to GOD who always giveth us the victory. HE is our example of long suffering WITH loving kindness AT the Cross. Forgive them for they know not what they do. His hearts CRY for us, forgive them — may that be our heart’s CRY for those we consider enemies, and even friends :).
stephen