Love Your Enemies

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 39, Love Your Enemies.

Hear this word. Let it settle.

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:44.

That is Jesus talking. Not a philosopher, not a motivational speaker — Jesus. And He doesn't say it the way you'd offer a suggestion. He says it the way a king declares what is true.

And right here is where the kingdom stops sounding nice and starts looking supernatural.

Because loving the people who love you back — that costs nothing. Everyone does that. Even people who have never opened a Bible do that. But Jesus climbs higher. He points to that person — the one who betrayed you, the one who talked about you behind your back, the one who hurt you where it hurt the most — and He says: love that one. Pray for that one.

That is the steepest command He could have given.

And if it feels impossible right now, I understand that. But look at what Jesus does in that verse — He pairs love with prayer. He doesn't just say "feel love." He says "pray." Because He knows that feelings can freeze up — but prayer goes where feelings refuse to follow.

It is very hard to keep hating someone you carry to God every single day. Prayer is not a trick — it is heart-work. And that work changes you from the inside, even when the other person never changes at all.

There is something else here. The Father gives sun and rain to the just and the unjust alike. He doesn't withhold the rain from the one who fails Him. He doesn't pull the sun from the one who rejects Him. And when you love an enemy, you look like Him. Not as a performance — as a family resemblance. As a child who carries the Father's nature.

The love Jesus is describing is not a warm feeling you wait around for. It is not that emotion you hope will show up on its own one morning. It is bread broken and given anyway. It is a wound forgiven on purpose. It is a kindness that is chosen — not felt first, chosen first. A decision the heart slowly learns to follow.

And if that still feels like too much, look at where Jesus was when He said it. He was about to walk to the cross. And from the cross — with nails in His hands, with mockery in the air — He prayed for the men who were driving those nails. Every command He gives, He has already obeyed Himself. He does not send you anywhere He has not already been.

So today — before breakfast, before you reach for your phone, before anything else — do one thing. Think of the person who has hurt you most recently. Say their name, out loud or quietly in your heart. And ask God to truly bless them. Not for their sake alone. For who you are becoming when you obey.

That is the kingdom. Not pretty from a distance. Supernatural up close.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.