As a follower of Christ, it is not only you accept Christ as a Savior but the most important is to accept him as your LORD.
What does LORD means ?
1 : one having power and authority over others:
a : a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due
a : a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due
So when Jesus said "Love your enemies?" I wish Jesus didn't say that.
ENEMY
- 1 : one that is antagonistic to another; especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent
How can you love this enemy, because as a human being it is our fallen nature, our pride usually kicks in, our ego is important , and it is natural to retaliate and get even to those who hurts us, accused us, treat us bad, con us, betrayed us, so how can you say Love your enemies? It is the most hardest thing to do.
How can you forgive someone and love that person who do all those things to you? Disrespect you, condemned you, accused you of something you haven't do? Usually as a human being it is easy to say I will forgive, I have forgiven but definitely I will never forget.
But how can you forgive if you haven't forgotten?
As a follower of Christ God's standard is ATTITUDE, he looks in the heart of a person. Whatever in your heart is important to God that is his standard.
According to his word;
Matthew 5:44-45 NIV
[44] But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] 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.
Leviticus 19:18 NIV
[18] “ 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Exodus 23:4-5 NIV
[4] “If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. [5] If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
Luke 6:28 NIV
[28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Romans 12:16 NIV
[16] Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
To be a child of God his command is to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, because he will be the one to retaliate for you.
It is hard to love your enemy, it is hard to forgive your enemy, it is hard to forget the bad things that have done to you.
But always remember, how hard it is to forgive someone when Jesus Christ forgave you and died for you? he died and bore your sins, so how hard could it be to forgive someone?
In this world it is hard to forgive when life is hard and there will be a lot of times that you will be hurt, people will persecute you, condemned you and treat you bad.
But Jesus said;
John 15:19-20 NIV
[19] If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. [20] Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
So always remember that you are not alone Jesus Christ will give you the heart of forgiveness, he will give you the strength to withstand trials, so he will be with you to FORGIVE and FORGET and most and above all is to LOVE.
To forgive, to forget and to Love is easy when you have a relationship with Jesus because you know that you belongs to him and what matter most is God's standard not the world standard.
