There is to be no limit to our love

THERE IS TO BE NO LIMIT TO OUR LOVE

Lk. 6:27-38

The hardest of all Jesus’ Commandment is “Love your enemies”. And so, it is the Commandment that is least obeyed.  Do we pay lip service to it?  Jesus is right when He tells us to love our enemies.  The world would be a much better place if we all took this Commandment to heart.  Occasionally, when we see an example of it, something inside us wants us to applaud such a generous gesture. 

Why is it that these familiar words, “Love your enemies” have made so little difference in the way we live?  Is it because we are not sure that they apply to us?  This Commandment was given long ago when people who had enemies were engaged in personal vendettas.  Times have changed.  We are far removed from a world of personal vendettas.  Of course, there are people whom we do not get along with very well, and for good reason.  They are rude and inconsiderate, bullies, unkind and unfair, selfish and demanding, downright deceitful and dishonest, but we may not go so far as to call them enemies.  They are just people whom we do not like, and who don’t seem to like us.

Still, these are the people with whom we have to live.  We can’t avoid all contact with them.  Whether we choose to call these people enemies or something else, we do have to deal with them.  How do we respond to people who offend us, who cause us pain and who make our lives more difficult?  Are these the kinds of conflicts Jesus has in mind when He says, “Love your enemies”?  I am sure they are.

First, let us begin by realising that we must never equate love with our feelings?  I can have special feelings towards my father, mother, husband or wife or child.  I don’t have those same feelings towards everyone, especially my enemies.  Loving our enemies is not a question of feelings.  The key to understanding this difficult Commandment is found in the very next sentence.  Jesus spelt out the answer in terms of action.  “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.”  Doing all this is not a matter of feelings.  None of those things are easy, but all of them are possible.  We can do good to all people, including those who do evil to us.  We can speak well of those who speak ill of us.  We can pray for those who treat us unfairly.  That is what Jesus meant when He said, “Love your enemies”.  It was not a matter of feelings; it was a matter of actions.

Why should we act like this?  Why should we repay evil with good?  Jesus anticipated that question and has addressed it.  Jesus agrees that most people put limits on their love.  They love those who love them.  They do good to those who do good to them.  Surely, there is nothing wrong with that kind of love?  Reciprocal love is the basic ingredient of friendship and family life.  Take that away and every society on earth would collapse into chaos.  The only problem for Jesus is that this kind of love doesn’t go far enough.  It is too easy and ordinary, as Jesus puts it, “Even sinners love those who love them.”

He challenges His followers to take God as their role model.  His love is without limits.  It is not restricted to those who love Him in return.  His kindness is not extended only to those who deserve it.  He is good to the ungrateful and the wicked.  It means that God loves the serial killer as well as his innocent victims.  It means that God loves the dictator who is responsible for mass murders as much as He loves the hundreds who are slain.  We wonder how this can be?  When we make the general assertion that God loves all people, we can understand that.  But when we get specific, that is another matter.  Do we really want a God who loves assassins, terrorists, child molesters, and brutal dictators?  Would it not seem reasonable to draw the line somewhere?  Love without limits is hard to imagine, and it is even harder to accept.  Jesus is asking us to change our way of thinking.

This kind of love has actually been demonstrated in the life of Jesus.  He placed no limits to His love.  He kept company with rank unbelievers.  He did not draw back from the touch of a prostitute.  He socialised with dishonest tax-collectors.  Knowing full well that Judas had betrayed Him, He still called that two-faced man His friend.  He forgave His enemies even at the point where they were killing Him.  He was behaving in exactly the same way as His Father does who loves the good and bad alike.

This behaviour of Jesus is a brilliant example of how to love our enemies.  It implies that you and I can never do or become anything that will cause God to turn away from us in disgust.  The example of Jesus is an encouragement to us.  So, it is only when we love our enemies that we truly become the children of the Most High.  For the follower of Christ, there is no other authentic credential. 

Lord Jesus, people will know that we are Your disciples by our love for one another.  It has to be a special kind of love, not just the love of friends, but the love that includes our enemies.  Have we the courage to love like You, a love like God Your Father that is unconditional, a love without limits?

https://fatherfrancismaple.co.uk