love your enemies

10 January, 2011

Read Luke 6:27-38

Someone asked me once, “In a nutshell, sentence or two tell me what is the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian.”

How would you answer such a question?

The Beatitudes are like a summary of what it means to be Kingdom –people. However, Jesus’ teachings are so contradictory to the world that they sometimes create more questions than answers.

The turning of the other cheek, the loving of your enemies are not instinctive reactions. They are learned and intentional responses to injustice done onto ourselves. Our natural defences in stressful and wronged situations are to defend, justify and ‘pay back’ – “an eye for an eye”.

Luke 6:32-34
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.”

The answer to the above puts the onus of response on who we are, Jesus said that we are no different from the non-believers; just people of the world, not kingdom-people if we go by our ‘natural instinct’.

God’s love is extravagant, full of generosity, big-hearted, non-calculative and not expecting return. It is an act of love itself; independent of the other person’s response and in spite of the other person’s evil intentions.

The litmus test of a real Christian is if God’s character is formed in us. How we respond to our enemies definitely gives us away.

Question: How can I ‘train’ myself to respond to others, especially my ‘enemies’ (those who are mean and have wronged’ me) in a Christian way?