Love Your Enemies: A How To GuideSample

Day 4: Expectations for Our Enemies: Absolutely Nothing

This week, we’ve been discussing God’s command to love our enemies by looking at three ways He calls and equips us to do so: praying for them, blessing them and forgiving them.

As important as what we do to love our enemies, though, is HOW we do it. It should come as no surprise that God covers that in His Word as well.

One important way the Bible says we are to love those who have hurt or opposed us is to expect nothing in return for the love we give. That’s solid logic. After all, they’re your enemies!

But God also knows that such actions mess with your enemy’s entrenched beliefs. It shakes the foundations of their long-held bias. God knows His stuff - check this out from Proverbs 25, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head and the LORD will reward you.”

That’s the beautiful part: even if we never receive a reward from the enemy we love, we will receive one from God. What earthly reward could ever be greater than that – the favor and Father’s love of the Creator of the Universe? With our eyes on that prize, loving our enemies, and doing it with no expectation of reward, should be a little less daunting.