“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44).
I have been thinking about love – Christian love that is. You see I watched a nice little Romantic Comedy the other day and in the movie, the characters decided to get married because they truly loved each other.
And the movie was lots of fun to watch and a nice little piece of entertainment. However, I have been thinking about that romance in the movie today. You see, so much of the way that we exist in the world today is based around this idea that love – true love – is romantic.
And romance is not really love at all. Romance is emotional. In fact, the Romantic Movement in the Arts was a movement based on exploring the strong emotions of the individual to others and to their environment. And this is really nothing at all like love…
You see love – real love – is sacrificial. That is why God Himself is LOVE. Because though He profits NOTHING from our salvation, still He suffered and died for our sins – He suffered and died for mine… And He did that not because of any emotional response or emotional decision to do so. He did that because He loves me by CHOICE…
And so – knowing that – when Christ tells me to love not only my friends and neighbours and acquaintances, but to love my enemies (the people most against me those who actively hate and despise me), I know that I can take Him seriously…
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust...You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:38-48).
And I have been reflecting on that today, because there is a very vast difference between loving someone who is easy to love and loving someone who is actively causing me harm. And Christ knows and understands that – and He knew and understood it then even two thousand years ago when He was deciding to love those who persecuted Him. He decided to love me two thousand years ago even when He knew that I would act as His enemy. Because when you really stop and think about what I do to my Beloved, you must surely see that I am no better than an enemy to Him. After all, I sin – consciously and openly and I sin by choice – and every single sin is enough to kill Him.
And knowing this today, I am sure that I can believe in the love that Christ preached. Because He told us to LOVE our enemies. And He proved that this could be done, because He loves me - and there is truly nothing Romantic about that...
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.