Love Your Enemies

Matthew 5:43–48 (ESV)

“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, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Jesus begins this discourse in the Gospel of Matthew by informing His listeners that what they had learned about loving their neighbor and hating their enemies was wrong. This erroneous thinking stemmed from a misapplication of Leviticus 19:18, which states:

“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.”

By tradition, it was inferred that if we are commanded to love our brother, then we must also hate our enemies. However, Jesus corrects this misunderstanding by proclaiming:

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

The idea of loving one’s enemies is revolutionary. Even today, it is difficult to process the command to love those who oppose or harm us. Jesus further explains in Matthew 5:45 that we are to love this way so "that we may be children of our Father in heaven who causes His sun to rise on both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust."

This act of loving our enemies is evidence of our identity as children of God. Behaving in this manner demonstrates that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, enabling us to live like Jesus Christ rather than according to worldly standards.

The love described in this passage is Agape, unconditional love. Agape means I choose to love you regardless of how you treat me. My love is not dependent upon your response.

In other words, even if you hate me, I will love you anyway. This is the same kind of love God has shown toward us. God Himself is our example for loving our enemies.

Although we were once enemies of God because of sin, He still loved us and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Epistle to the Romans 5:8–10:

“But God commendeth His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us… For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

God provides us with the ultimate example of how to love our enemies. He loved us even when we were separated from Him by sin. Now, having been reconciled and made children of God through obedience to the gospel, we are no longer enemies but sons and daughters.

This transformation through Jesus Christ is confirmed in us by the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to love our enemies.

Jesus continues His teaching by explaining that it is easy to love those who love us because the feeling is mutual. But He calls us to something greater. His instruction to “be perfect” means we must live transformed lives that reflect God’s character and give us the capacity to love even our enemies.

We can never achieve this perfection in the flesh. It is only possible when we have been transformed and become new creatures in Christ Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit.