Loving Those Who Hurt Us

Someone once said: “Loving our enemies, then, does not mean that

we are supposed to love the dirt in which the pearl is buried; rather

it means that we love the pearl which lies in the dust. . . . God does

not love us because we are by nature lovable. But we become lovable

because He loves us.”

When you look at your “enemies,” what do you normally see—the

pearl or the dirt around it?

Read Matthew 5:43–48. Jesus calls us to love and pray for our ene-

mies. What example from nature does Jesus give us there that helps

us understand why we should love our enemies? What’s the point

He is teaching us?

In Matthew 5:45, Jesus uses the example of His Father in heaven to

illustrate how we should treat those who hurt us, who perhaps put us in

the worst kind of crucibles. Jesus says that His Father sends the blessing

of rain to both the righteous and the unrighteous; if God gives even the

unjust rain, how then should we treat them?

Jesus isn’t trying to say that we should always have warm, fuzzy

feelings toward everyone who causes us trouble, though this also may

be possible. Fundamentally, love for our enemies is not meant to be a

feeling we have for them but specific actions toward them that reveal

care and consideration.

Jesus concludes this passage with a verse that often causes a lot of

debate: “ ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect’ ”

(Matt. 5:48, NIV). But the meaning is very clear in the context: those

people who want to be perfect as God is perfect must show love to their

enemies as God shows love to His. To be perfect in God’s sight is to

love the opposition; and to do this takes a meekness of heart that only

God can give.

Keeping in mind our definition of meekness (“enduring injury

with patience and without resentment”), list the changes you

must make in order to allow the Lord to give you the kind of

meekness of heart that will help you have the right attitude

toward “enemies.”