Jesus said, "Love your enemies." - A controversial statement that requires believers to fundamentally change the way they interact with other people. It can be difficult & inconvenient, but this kind of love is the only hope for a hurting world.

1. Inconvenient Love
“You have heard that it was said, „Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.‟ But I tell you, love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in
heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and
the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax
collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than
others? Do not even pagans do that?”
-
Matthew 5:43-47
For his followers or adversaries, a first century conversation with Jesus would have inevitably
touched on many different topics. While his message was often focused on various aspects of a
relationship with God, there were some themes that Jesus was particularly keen on sharing. He
often spoke about feeding the poor and the dangers of money and the importance of
forgiveness, but love may have been his favorite; love for each other and love from the Father
were ideas he never tired of communicating and demonstrating to his followers.
Love is a concept that simultaneously seems so natural and totally foreign. A child may
instinctively love his mother or father and then spend an entire lifetime understanding what it
truly means to love his wife. Or a young couple may honestly believe that they feel love for each
other, only to discover after a few months that it was merely infatuation. Jesus constantly
challenged his followers‟ notions of love, and indeed his life became the greatest symbol of love
in all of human history.
The Apostle Paul understood that love was complex and multifaceted: “Love is patient, love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.” Paul‟s sermon on love in 1 Corinthians is all about the fact
that love isn‟t a function of emotion so much as choice. A person must choose to love, and that
choice has profound consequences on the way life is lived.
It is, not surprisingly, fundamentally about choice that Jesus speaks of in the above passage
from the Gospel of Matthew. He touches on an aspect of love that is perhaps the most

2. challenging to make a reality in one‟s life: loving those that aren‟t convenient to love. Though it
is certainly not always easy to love a family member or a friend, it comes naturally. Jesus points
out that even those who don‟t know God know how to return love.
Jesus, through word and deed, calls his followers to a higher standard, though. In a world full of
strife and violence, the ability to love an enemy just may be the only thing that can make a
difference. This type of love is not only difficult – it‟s extremely inconvenient, and inconvenience
is a bridge too far for so many modern Americans. Between work and cars and vacations and
soccer practice and all the other things that fill up life, the opportunities to love an enemy can
easily be eclipsed.
Fortunately for believers, living in the power of the Spirit means not having to wonder what love
like this looks like in a contemporary context. The potential is all around for showing love to an
enemy or to someone who is not one of “your own people”. Whether at the grocery store or at
work or at a soup kitchen or on the other side of the planet, there are people who desperately
need to not just hear about the Gospel but see it demonstrated before their eyes.
Jesus‟ message hasn‟t changed in 2000 years. Love is still the central factor in a life devoted to
God, and it is the only force capable of changing this world. Though it may be inconvenient and
difficult at times, Jesus has called his followers to love their enemies and stand out in the world.
For more information visit http://www.tellthemthatilovethem.net