10d • Devotionals
Loving Enemies for Redemption
Scripture
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” — Matthew 5:44
A Legacy of Enemy-Love
From the earliest days of the church, enemy-love has stood as a mark of authentic discipleship. Origen reminded believers: “We must not pray against our enemies but for them, and not for their destruction but for their salvation.” Love is not passive tolerance — it is active pursuit of redemption.
Tertullian declared to a hostile Roman world that Christians were known not only for loving one another but also for loving their enemies. It was this radical compassion that made the church so strangely compelling in a culture of vengeance.
Augustine added that loving enemies doesn’t mean approving of evil; it means confronting evil with the healing force of love: “We are commanded to love our enemies… not that we may approve of them when they do wrong, but that we may correct them by love.”
And Chrysostom went further, saying: “Nothing makes us so like God as being ready to love our enemies.” To love in this way is to bear the family resemblance of our Father in heaven.
Contemporary Witness
Today, leaders like David Platt echo the same truth: “If God loved us when we were His enemies, how can we withhold that same love from those who oppose us? Our love for enemies is not weakness — it is witness.” In a divided world, love for enemies testifies that the Gospel is real.
Francis Chan challenges us with simplicity: “When we love the people who hurt us, reject us, or slander us, that’s when the world sees the power of Christ.” Our treatment of enemies proves whether the Spirit is alive in us.
John Piper points us back to the cross: “The call to love our enemies is rooted in the fact that while we were enemies, God loved us and gave His Son for us.”
And Tim Keller, in his quiet pastoral way, reminds us that forgiveness and love flow from grace: “If you see yourself as a sinner saved by sheer grace, you cannot withhold grace from another.”
Reflection
The Fathers and today’s leaders agree: enemy-love is not optional. It is the very imitation of Christ, the living proof of the Gospel, and the way we participate in God’s redemptive mission. To love your enemy is not merely to disarm hostility; it is to long for their redemption, to act so that even the one who opposes you might encounter Christ through you.
Questions for the Heart
- Do I see my enemies as beyond redemption, or as people God longs to save?
- How does remembering that I was once God’s enemy shape the way I respond to those who hurt me?
- Where in my life might God be calling me to show radical grace?
Prayer
Father, You loved me when I was still Your enemy. Help me to walk in that same love toward others — not seeking revenge but redemption, not fueled by bitterness but by grace. May my actions bear witness to the power of the Gospel, so that even my enemies may see Christ through me. Amen.
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Loving Enemies for Redemption
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