Love No Matter What

By: Grace Metzger

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you
Luke 6:27 ESV

Recently I’ve come to the decision that I won’t allow anyone to dictate how I love them. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and this is something I’ve been aware of for along time. I’ve come to accept that not everyone will blend with me and I’m okay with that. In the past I’ve allowed those who dislike me to dictate how I love them; why would I love someone who doesn’t like me? I won’t lie, I was a bit bitter and petty at this. But just this week God on been convicting me of this. I shouldn’t choose who to love based of how they feel, but I should choose who to love based on what God commands me to do. 

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭43‬-‭44‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God has commanded me to love everyone, especially my enemies. Let me tell you, this isn’t an easy thing to do. The world has conditioned us to believe that hatred and dislike are normal things that should be accepted. But God says that above all His commandments, we should love one another.

 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?
 Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭46‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I’ll be the first to admit, this isn’t an easy commandment to live by. In fact, in order to do this we have to actively fight against our flesh desire to hate someone. But God is calling us to do this, He is calling us to love everyone. He doesn’t say love those only if they love you back. In fact, He goes as far as saying that even tax collectors are able to do that! He is telling us to love everyone, even those who hate you, slander your name, lie about you, etc. God is calling us to love those difficult people. 

People will argue that this is being a doormat or allowing people to treat us badly. I disagree, you can set healthy boundaries and still love someone. Maybe right now they don’t have to be in your life but you can still love and pray for them. Loving someone doesn’t make you naive or easy to take advantage of. Loving those difficult people is showing strength and kindness that can only come from God. 

I challenge you this week to pray for that person in your life who you’ve had problems with in the past. Pray for them daily, ask God to bless them and show them His love. I can tell you from experience that this will change how you view people. Instead of jumping into hatred you start living life praying and loving your enemies. 

Discussion questions!

Do you have someone in your life who has made it hard to show love?

How do you show love despite others actions?