How Do We Love Those We Don't Like?

Good morning…

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’” explains Jesus in Matthew 5:43-44a (NIV). “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” At age 39, Martin Luther King Jr. was maturing as a ‘child of our Father’ when he was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

Through King’s “Loving Your Enemies” sermon, preached in 1957, we are coaxed out of our old habit of loving neighbors like us and hating enemies who cause us pain. King shares God’s new invitation: “…it’s significant that he (Jesus) does not say, ‘Like your enemy.’ Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them.

But Jesus says love them.

And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, ‘Love your enemy.'”

In authenticity, how are we to love hurtful people we do not like? With a single word, Jesus points out the pathway to God’s higher, agape love: “Pray.” We are invited to pray for those people who painfully persecute us. Just like Jesus, just like Martin Luther King Jr., we are designed to dwell in daily dialogue with our divine Daddy. Remaining in prayer for those inflicting pain, the LORD’s love for each enemy fills our heart until it overflows.

I may walk through valleys
as dark as death,
but I won’t be afraid.
You are with me,
and your shepherd’s rod
makes me feel safe.
You treat me to a feast,
while my enemies watch.
You honor me as your guest,
and you fill my cup
until it overflows (Psalm 23:4-5, CEV),