“If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. 5. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it." HCSB
As many times as I have read these two verses over the years, they have never really caught my attention. These verses are part of a major biblical theme, and that is what to do about one’s enemies.The text written above shows us that we are not to treat one that we would consider an enemy badly. There is something in us that says otherwise. If someone hates us it seems that we should have the right to ignore their ox or donkey. In fact, what we would sometimes like to do is to chide them and say that they are getting what they deserve. We might say, “Who cares about your old ox or donkey?” But the Bible does not leave room for that. Let’s dig a little deeper into this subject of how we are to treat those whom we consider our enemies. In fact, let’s look at what Jesus, who is always our final authority on any issue, had to say on the issue. A good example is Matthew 5:43-46:“You have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy, 44. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45. That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46. For if you love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans (tax collectors) the same?” Jesus went far beyond returning an enemies stray ox or donkey, and helping an enemy when his donkey is under a load too heavy for it to bear. Jesus said that we are to love our enemies and even bless those who curse us and pray for those who would persecute us. Man, this really goes against our grain doesn’t it? You are probably thinking about someone right now that you would literally like to scrub their heads and chew them out. But that is not an act of love. Let’s go a little deeper into what Jesus had to say about us and our enemies. He said that if we want to be "God like" or as we would say “Christ like,” then we will love our enemies and do good to them. I don’t think that Jesus meant that we had to love our enemies in order for God to love us, but I think that He meant that people will know that we belong to God when we treat all people equally, whether they love us or not. In John 15:17 Jesus said, “These things I command you, that you love one another.” Again in John 13:34-35 Jesus said: “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another. 35. By this shall all men (people) know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” The love that we show to one another in the church sets an example for the world, and helps them to know that we belong to Jesus. They might even want to become a part of us if they see such love. Think of your life now. Do you really love the people who are in your church? I’m sure there are some that are difficult to love, but that should not make them your enemies. If we follow what we read in Exodus and what we read in Matthew and John, we are not given the right to have enemies at all. What we all need to do right now, if we want to be witnesses to a world in bad need of Jesus, is to love one another and let that love seep over into the world around us. Love is contagious, and if you want your church to grow, let people all around you see the love that you have in your church and they will want to be a part of that. Is that what they see now? What are you going to do about it? Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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