Why You Should Love Your Enemies
"Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." (Luke 6:27-28)
You might find it strange that the Bible tells us to love our enemies. That means we should love those who are unkind to us and those who set out to do us harm. It is not easy, but here are the reasons we should love those who treat us badly.
The number one reason to love our enemies is because the Bible tells us to do so. Another reason is to show that we are God's children by loving those who do not love us.
A third reason is to follow the example of Jesus. He was despised, rejected, ridiculed, and even put to death. Even so, on the cross, He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
That is the same kind of forgiveness and love we should have toward others. We should heap coals of fire on them every chance we get. Then we would be obeying what the Bible tells us.
It has been said that we can love God only to the extent that we love our worse enemy. Therefore, if we say we love God, it shows through the love we have for our enemies.
Rev. Margaret Minnicks
