Reckless Graceনমুনা

Enemy: A False Construct

Your “that person” identified yesterday may be someone you consider an enemy. If this is true (even if you’d never say it aloud), you are missing out on an opportunity to live out the fullness of the grace God has given you. “Enemy” is, in fact, a false mental construct created by people carrying offense at the transgressions of another. The earthly label gives us a perceived license to hate, a right to withhold grace, and a justification to carry offense to the death like a badge of honor. But the truth is, nobody can be your enemy without your permission.

King David marvels at how the Lord prepares a table before him in the presence of his enemies (Psalm 23:5). Why would God do such a thing? It’s simple. You can be a living invitation for your “enemy” to realize his true identity … and to become your brother. “I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27–28). When Jesus implores us to love our enemies, he is just as serious as when he releases the authority to forgive sins in the upper room. Both concepts, equally radical, pierce us to the core. It’s a reckless call to unity and oneness that simply doesn’t make sense in this world. When you walk in your true identity in Christ, you won’t be able to see people as enemies but as broken beings who desperately need to encounter the God of grace. When all else fails, love truly wins, for God is love.

Maybe you’re the one who has sinned against another and against God, and you’re stuck in a cycle of sin and shame. The only thing more difficult than forgiving someone else is forgiving yourself. But here’s the funny thing about grace. There’s a divine order to it, and it differentiates between grace as a gift and grace as a reward. Grace starts as a gift from the Father, released to us through Jesus Christ, not because we have earned it but before we could even know to ask for it. The grace we’re called to extend to others through the forgiveness of sins isn’t something we do to earn God’s grace in return. It’s something we do as a natural overflow of the radical grace we’ve already received.

You cannot give away what you have first not received. You must receive grace as a gift before you can give it. And you must give grace as an overflow of that gift before you can receive grace as a reward from God. The best way to move toward in forgiving yourself is to extend the grace you’ve been given to someone who doesn’t deserve it.