To you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who hurt you.
Luke 6:27-28, NLT

Now this is tough love! And it’s not fair. It’s backwards. Makes you wonder what Jesus was thinking sometimes doesn’t it? I mean come on…love your enemies? Do good to those who hate you? Pray for the people in your life that hurt you (and not just hurt you once, but that hurt you over and over again!)? He just can’t be serious!

Or can He?

And if He is serious…why? Why should we act this way? It certainly isn’t in our nature (pretty much the exact opposite is our nature). Why does Jesus command us to love like this? Two reasons…

One: He calls us to be different, and that often means taking the rougher road (the 4×4 road instead of the paved road). Loving those who already love us is the easy way, and according to Jesus it’s what everyone else is doing already:

If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that?
Even sinners love those who love them!
Luke 6:32,NLT

Two: Because loving those who we don’t want to love and loving those who hurt us is how God acts…and He wants us to act like our Father. He wants us to be like Him. Imagine that! I don’t know about you, but that’s what I strive for pretty much every day…to be like my Father.

Love your enemies…
Then…you will be acting as children of the Most High,
for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.
You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Luke 6:35-36, NLT

Don’t miss who he’s talking about here. Who has he been kind to? “Those who are unthankful and wicked.” Hmmm…sounds a lot like a guy I know…I see him in the mirror every day! God has been (and still is) kind and compassionate to me. All He asks is that I return the favor to others.

Yes, it’s tough love. But is anything really worth doing ever easy?