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Let There Be Love Part 4
Let There Be Love — Part 4: Loving Your Enemies
Description:
In Part 4 of Let There Be Love, Pastor Eric moves from loving our neighbor to one of the hardest commands in all of Scripture: loving our enemies. This message is deeply practical, deeply convicting, and impossible to live out apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.
Starting in Luke 10 and Matthew 5, Pastor Eric revisits the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and then follows Jesus into the even harder territory of blessing those who curse us, doing good to those who hate us, and praying for those who spitefully use us. This is not sentimental religion. It is kingdom ethics—supernatural love expressed through surrendered obedience.
Pastor Eric speaks candidly about his own conviction after last week’s message, sharing how the Lord pressed him to reach out to someone in need he had been avoiding. That personal honesty becomes the doorway into a larger truth: Christians are not called merely to agree with Scripture, but to obey it. The Word of God is meant to confront us, soften us, and move us into action.
Drawing from Acts 16, Pastor Eric shows how Paul and Silas responded to injustice, mistreatment, and imprisonment—not with revenge, but with worship, prayer, mercy, and gospel witness. Their example reveals that loving enemies does not mean pretending evil is good or becoming a doormat. It means keeping your eyes on Jesus, refusing vindictiveness, and letting the Spirit of God shape your response.
This message is a call to real Christian love—the kind that blesses instead of curses, prays instead of retaliates, and looks for redemption even in those who have caused harm.
Key Scriptures:
Luke 10:25–37; Matthew 5:43–48; Acts 16:16–34; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:9; John 14:6; John 10:27–30; 1 Corinthians 13:4–7
Highlights:
Revisiting the Good Samaritan and the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
Why the law exposes our need for Christ rather than saving us
Jesus as the only Savior: the One who bore our sins in His body on the tree
The difference between judicial forgiveness and restoring broken fellowship
Loving enemies as a true expression of kingdom living
Why blessing those who curse you is impossible without the Holy Spirit
Paul and Silas in prison: worship, mercy, and gospel witness under pressure
The danger of letting enemies become your functional master
Loving your enemy does not mean excusing evil or abandoning justice
A biblical definition of love: not mere feeling, but Christlike action
Next Steps:
Ask the Lord to show you whether there is someone you have been avoiding, resenting, or quietly hardening your heart against. Name that person honestly before God. Then ask the Holy Spirit to help you do one concrete act of obedience this week—reach out, pray for them, speak with dignity, or refuse retaliation. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and let His love define your response rather than your wounds.
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By Emmanuel Hooksett
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Let There Be Love — Part 4: Loving Your Enemies
Description:
In Part 4 of Let There Be Love, Pastor Eric moves from loving our neighbor to one of the hardest commands in all of Scripture: loving our enemies. This message is deeply practical, deeply convicting, and impossible to live out apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.
Starting in Luke 10 and Matthew 5, Pastor Eric revisits the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and then follows Jesus into the even harder territory of blessing those who curse us, doing good to those who hate us, and praying for those who spitefully use us. This is not sentimental religion. It is kingdom ethics—supernatural love expressed through surrendered obedience.
Pastor Eric speaks candidly about his own conviction after last week’s message, sharing how the Lord pressed him to reach out to someone in need he had been avoiding. That personal honesty becomes the doorway into a larger truth: Christians are not called merely to agree with Scripture, but to obey it. The Word of God is meant to confront us, soften us, and move us into action.
Drawing from Acts 16, Pastor Eric shows how Paul and Silas responded to injustice, mistreatment, and imprisonment—not with revenge, but with worship, prayer, mercy, and gospel witness. Their example reveals that loving enemies does not mean pretending evil is good or becoming a doormat. It means keeping your eyes on Jesus, refusing vindictiveness, and letting the Spirit of God shape your response.
This message is a call to real Christian love—the kind that blesses instead of curses, prays instead of retaliates, and looks for redemption even in those who have caused harm.
Key Scriptures:
Luke 10:25–37; Matthew 5:43–48; Acts 16:16–34; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:9; John 14:6; John 10:27–30; 1 Corinthians 13:4–7
Highlights:
Revisiting the Good Samaritan and the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
Why the law exposes our need for Christ rather than saving us
Jesus as the only Savior: the One who bore our sins in His body on the tree
The difference between judicial forgiveness and restoring broken fellowship
Loving enemies as a true expression of kingdom living
Why blessing those who curse you is impossible without the Holy Spirit
Paul and Silas in prison: worship, mercy, and gospel witness under pressure
The danger of letting enemies become your functional master
Loving your enemy does not mean excusing evil or abandoning justice
A biblical definition of love: not mere feeling, but Christlike action
Next Steps:
Ask the Lord to show you whether there is someone you have been avoiding, resenting, or quietly hardening your heart against. Name that person honestly before God. Then ask the Holy Spirit to help you do one concrete act of obedience this week—reach out, pray for them, speak with dignity, or refuse retaliation. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and let His love define your response rather than your wounds.