“The Myth That We Only Love Those Who Love Us”
Matthew 5:43-48
Sermon Series: “Myths That Make Us Miserable”
Introduction: Some people are easy to love. We click with them. They love us and are good to us. Other people are very difficult to love because they mistreat us. Honestly, we don’t like them or have warm, fuzzy feelings toward them. However, Jesus tells us to love everyone. Remember that true love is more than a feeling. It is an action. This may sound impossible, but Jesus never asks us to do something that He does not enable us to do. It is a difficult command, but He set the example for us by loving His enemies. We tend to justify our anger and wrong responses toward those who mistreat us but thinking that ungodly responses are ok is a myth that will make us miserable. When we respond in the wrong way, it robs us of our peace and joy and allows an enemy to control our hearts.
1. The Context: As we have gone through this section of the Sermon on the Mount, we have repeatedly seen the Pharisees twisting God’s truth. This may be the most blatant example. In this case, they actually twisted Scripture by adding to it. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” However, the Pharisees said that their enemy was not their neighbor so they could hate him instead of loving him. On the other hand, Jesus taught that everyone is our neighbor who is to be loved (see the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37). How do we pick and choose or twist things to our own liking when it comes to the Bible? This is a very dangerous action (Revelation 22:18- 19).
2. The Principle: The basic principle that Jesus espouses is that we are to respond to bad treatment with good, loving treatment. We are to love everyone, even if they treat us like an enemy. Jesus fleshes out how to do this by giving us four commands to obey (whether we feel like it or not). They are:
A. Love our enemies. This refers to our attitude and is foundational to the others because true love is an attitude that produces an action.
B. Bless those who curse us. This refers to our words.
C. Do good to those who hate us. This refers to our actions.
D. Pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us.
It is hard to stay mad at someone when you are praying for them.
_________________Who is your enemy? How are you responding to these people?
3. The Reasoning: Why should we respond in this way? Jesus gives three reasons.
A. Because God is gracious (even to His enemies).
B. Because even pagans can be good to those who are good to them, but loving our enemies is a mark of a Christian. It is human to be good to those who are good to us, devilish to be bad to those who are good to us, but divine to be good to those who are bad to us.
C. Because we are acting like God when we love our enemies.
4. Practical Steps: Here are some practical steps to take to put this in to practice:
A. Remember that we were God’s enemies who were hopeless without His grace.
B. Think about what Jesus did for us by dying for His enemies and His example in how He treated those who mistreated Him.
C. Stop twisting Scripture, justifying ourselves, and making excuses.
D. Remember that love is not a feeling but an action. E. Choose to forgive and treat people in the right way.
