"Love your enemies? Oh, come on! It can't be real!" This is one of those reactions I often hear when this phrase "Love your enemies" is mentioned. It seems like a very unreasonable instruction to follow, especially in a dog-eat-dog world that we live in today. Hard as it may be, I personally find it very true and liberating to the soul.
Watch what Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-45, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven..."
Before I write further, let me explain the word 'enemies' here. It is 'echthros' in Greek, and in the right context of what Jesus has said here, this word implies 'fellow human beings', and not 'satan'. When Jesus was to be crucified at Calvary, He prayed, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34) He was saying to forgive 'those people' for putting Him to death, and He didn't mean to say forgive 'satan'. So, we are talking about loving our fellow human beings here.
The word 'echthros' here can therefore mean 'people who hate you, people who are hostile against you, or people who have ill-will against you', and it comes from the word 'echtho', meaning 'to hate, to be hostile'.
In cross-reference, let's look now at what happened to Stephen in the book of Acts. He was a man full of faith and power of the Holy Spirit, and he did great wonders and signs among the people. However, there were people who weren't able to take it, and they secretly induced others to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." They also stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they seized him, brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us." (see Acts 6:8-15) Stephen then addressed them, beginning from the call of Abraham, to the patriarchs in Egypt, how God's people were being delivered by Moses, how God's people rebelled, and finally how God's people resisted the Holy Spirit (see Acts 7:1-53).
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and sought to kill him. They cast him out of the city and began stoning him. And there was this young man Saul consenting to his death. Acts 7:59-60 says, 'And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep'.
Stephen definitely did not die in vain, because God answered his powerful, 'love your enemies' prayer. Saul (who was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord) later had a great light experience when a light from heaven shone around him and Jesus spoke to him. He was a changed man ever since, and he began preaching Christ, much to the astonishment of the people who heard him (see Acts 9:1-22). This same Saul went on to become the apostle Paul that we know, the man who wrote about half of our New Testament today!
How do you apply the above in your life today? Well, you may not be literally or physically 'crucified' (like Jesus) or 'stoned' (like Stephen), but how about being 'crucified' and 'stoned' verbally? You know what I mean. People verbally abusing you. People bad-mouthing you. People gossiping against you. People falsely accusing you of something that you are innocent of. People who speak ill of you because they don't understand (yet) what you are doing. The list goes on.
Let's look again at what Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-45, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven..."
What does it mean by 'that you may be sons of your Father in heaven' here? Why sons? The answer is simple. Because sons are heirs. Because as sons, you have every right to receive all forms of inheritance that the Father wants to give you - divine health, divine favor, divine wisdom, divine victory, and of course, liberty in your spirit and soul.
That's why I believe 'loving your enemies' is liberating. In fact, it's therapeutic. It liberates us. It sets us free to receive many more forms of divine inheritance meant for us, and in greater measures unimaginable to our minds.
You see, love and forgiveness go hand-in-hand. You can't say you love, but you never forgive. So, as you receive God's love and forgiveness in your life, love and forgive others too. It isn't easy of course, but it's necessary. And so that your prayers will not be hindered. Jesus says, "... whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him ..." (Mark 11:25) As a matter of fact, unforgiveness (or holding grudges against another person) is detrimental to your own health. It's like drinking poison but expecting the other person to die. Let go, and let forgiveness flow.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying we are to condone or agree with whatever wrong people have done against us. I am not saying we don't stand up for what is right, or what God has called us to be (or do) in spite of the 'persecution'. Neither am I saying we should bow down to the evil people have done against us. But I am saying we can begin to see those 'perpetrators' the way God sees them. We can begin to see them in the love of God. We can begin to pray for God's love to fall upon them. You see, when everything else fails, God's love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). If God can change a Saul into a Paul, there's really nothing too difficult for Him. And God's will is that none should perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
We can pray God's love upon those who are most hostile against God's Word. In fact, many in the most unreachable and darkest places are beginning to experience Jesus in supernatural and real ways. Many have received dreams and visions from the Lord directly, without even having any contact with Christians. There have been numerous account of people seeing Jesus in white appearance, like a bright, shining light. What happened in the book of Acts is unfolding in greater measure in this end-time. You see, we can even pray God's love upon the persecutors, the abductors, or the terrorists.
How about in our day-to-day lives? We can pray God's love upon those who have ill-will against us, in our workplace or anywhere else. We can pray God's love upon those who conspire against us. We can pray God's love upon those who try to do harm to us. We can pray God's love upon those who try to pull us down. I have tried it. It works. Because God's love works.
