In the comic Peanuts Linus once explained, “I love mankind; it’s the people I
can’t stand.” Somerset Maugham said it
this way “I’ve always been interested in people, but I’ve never liked them.”
Maybe you can identify with those
sentiments. People can be rude, selfish, foolish, trying and vicious. Some
might even fall into the “enemies” category. When people mistreat or take
advantage of us, it is just human nature to feel resentment, anger and even
hatred.
The religious teachers of Jesus’
day taught you were to hate your enemies [Roman occupation]. Jesus comes with a
radical new teaching, “Love you enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to
those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you…”
Our generation has a difficult
time understanding this teaching because we look at love as an emotion. When
Jesus gave the command to love our enemies He was not talking about our
emotions but our actions. You cannot command your emotions to feel a certain
way. “Bless those…do good…pray for those…” are all words of action. So, it does
not matter how you feel about someone, to love is to do what is in the best interest of that person.
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