Matthew 5:43-48
Key Verse: “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:43-45a CSB)
What is it in your life that makes you different? What is it that distinguishes you from the rest of the crowd? For followers of Jesus Christ, it ought to be the way that we love people.
Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This is part of the Great Commandment that Jesus gave to us. We are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. To the extent that we model the love of Jesus to those around us, we will stand out to the rest of the watching world.
I don’t know about you though, but there are some people I find easier to love. With others, it’s a little more challenging. Can you relate? In Matthew 5, Jesus reminds us that our love for people should not be limited or restricted. We aren’t just supposed to love people who also follow Jesus. It isn’t just those who agree with us or choose to love us back. It’s a Christ-centered love that needs to be extended to anyone and everyone without limits.
One of the ways that some of the Jewish teachers had distorted God’s teaching about love was that they had limited or qualified it. Instead of simply taking God’s teaching for what it was – “Love your neighbour as yourself” – they had changed it to “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy” (v.43). In their minds, to love someone “as yourself” meant to love only those who were like them. To many, this means that that they were to honor God by only loving people who were Jewish and despising everyone else. It was a limited or restricted love.
Look again though at what Jesus says is the new standard when it comes to love. He said, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (v.44). Take a moment and reflect on what He is saying. Sure, you must love the people around you. But don’t forget about those who you consider being your enemy. Make sure that you are extending that same love to the people who are at odds with you, the people who are maybe even oppressing or harassing you. Don’t forget to have them on your prayer list each day too.
Why is this so important to Jesus? Why should our love for others have no limits? One of the reasons why we are called to this standard of love is because it helps us to be like God. This is what Jesus is referring to when He says, “so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (v.45).
God doesn’t put limits on the love that He has toward people. There are plenty of people in this world who live as enemies of God, refusing to even acknowledge Him, let alone obey Him. But every single day, God chooses to make the sunrise or to cause the rain to fall. God chooses to show love to people by giving them life and breath, even when they oppose Him with their words and with the way that they live. Remember, we were all there too at one point. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Is there someone in your life today whom you have a hard time loving? To love without limits doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have boundaries in place with certain people. But it does mean that you must find ways to extend your love to even the most difficult person.
How can you do that today? In faith, choose to love that person simply by praying for them. Ask God to show His goodness and favor to that individual. Pray for God’s hand of blessing upon them. This is what it means to be a child of God who lives out the love of Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the limitless love that you have extended to me in Christ Jesus. You know today the people in my life who are hard to love. I choose though to take you at your word. I want to love others in the same way that you have loved me. Help me today to extend love to those around me without limits or conditions. Amen.
