Why love my enemies? It does not sound natural at all. However, so far as you profess to be a Christian and you call on the name of God almighty, then loving your enemies should become part and parcel of you for life. Moreover, Jesus put forth some arguments to challenge His disciples to follow His teachings of loving both their loved ones and their enemies. These are the reasons why we should love our enemies as Christians.
It is a command from our Lord Jesus
If the believer is left to himself to love, humans as we are, we are more likely to walk in our natural weakness, which is loving those who love us and hating our enemies like what the unbelievers do. Since Jesus did not want us to love this way, he made it a command to all His followers to show love to their enemies when He said:
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:43,44); Also Luke 6:35 and Luke 6:27.
This is our first, strongest reason to love our enemies is that it is a command from our Lord Jesus. Since loving our enemies has come as a command from our Lord Jesus, hating our enemies is disobedience to the Lord.
We make a difference when we love our enemies
The natural man – the unrepented, sinful, and unbelieving man – tends to love those who love him and hate his enemies. Meaning even thieves, Buddhists, Satanists, murders, atheist, liars, etc. love those who love them and hate their enemies. And if the disciples should love this way, they will not do anything different from what the worldly and the ungodly are doing. Jesus wanted His disciples to stand out and make a difference so He taught them to go the extra mile; that is, they should love both their loved ones and their enemies – where their enemies are those who speak ill of them, those who persecute them, those who curse them, etc.
32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again (Luke 6:32-34).
By loving our enemies, we imitate God’s love
God has enemies too. According to the Bible, there is enmity between the natural man and God – where the natural man is the unbeliever or the unrepented sinner. This is because sin ruins a relationship. The unbeliever, since he is living in sin, violates every one of God’s commandments and ruins his relationship with God, becoming an enemy of God.
Though God gets hurt by the evil deeds of the unbeliever and sinner, He does not react like us, humans; that is, He does not dwell on their sins to harbor hatred for them though that should have been the case. Rather, He loves both the believer and the unbeliever dearly.
So in Matthew 5, Jesus explained that God’s love is universal and unconditional. For as a result of His love, He is good to both the righteous and the wicked. It is written that God makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45).
This verse means to say that God does not discriminate in sharing resources. The welfare of the wicked is just as important to Him as that of the righteous and He does not deny the wicked the good things of life. Both the wicked and the righteous have equal chances to prosper, live long, etc. All these happen because God’s love is universal and, most importantly, unconditional. The love of God is so wonderful. This is the kind of love Jesus wants His disciples to possess. In Matthew 5, Jesus Christ challenged us to love just like how our Father God loves. He said,
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, ……. 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:43-45).
By loving our enemies, we prove to be the children of God
If God is your Father, you would exhibit the things of God. Therefore, Christians and children of God should imitate the love of God; said differently, we should demonstrate the love of God in our lives and by so doing prove ourselves to be children of God indeed. Jesus said,
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:43-45).
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil (Luke 6:35).
There is a reward for loving our enemies
Way back in high school, some of us received awards for topping our classes. It was quite an achievement to come first among many people; hence, the reward. If as a Christian, you love those who love you and hate your enemies, you do not do anything different from the unbelievers and hence you do not merit any reward.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:46-48).
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil (Luke 6:35).
We can deduce from Matthew 5:46-48 that God will handsomely reward believers who imitate His love; that is to say, believers who love their friends, family, etc. and their enemies should look forward to receiving God’s reward.