Loving Our Enemies

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:14-21 NASB1995)

When Jesus was still on the earth, he warned his disciples, his followers, that we would be hated as he was hated, and that we would be persecuted as he was persecuted. And who were Jesus’ greatest persecutors? They were those who professed faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, many of whom were rulers in the temple and in the synagogues, and who were teachers of the law, and who were people of prominence and influence within the temple gatherings, too, such as were the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees.

(Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21)

So, it should not surprise us, if we are following in the ways of the Lord, and not in the ways of the world, that we should also be persecuted by the religious, i.e. by pastors, elders, deacons, denominational heads, and others who profess faith in Jesus Christ who are dedicated followers of institutional religion and religious creeds and practices which are of the flesh and not of God. For they will view us in the light of institutional religion and religious practices rather than by the teachings of the Scriptures, i.e. by God’s Word.

But we are never to pay back evil for evil to anyone, even to those who treat us with contempt, who deliberately do evil against us, who lie about us, and who cast us out from their presence because we do not adhere to the worldly culture within the gatherings of “the church.” But we follow after the Scriptures and the teachings of Christ. For if we are following Jesus and his word, we may be judged by worldly standards. But we are never to take our own revenge, but we are to leave room for the wrath of God. He’s the judge.

So, if we are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep, this has to be in accord with the word of God and with his morals and values. So we don’t rejoice with those doing or saying what is evil, and with what is contrary to the teachings of Scripture. And we don’t weep with those who are crying and complaining because they got caught in evil and/or that they did not get their evil way. And we are not to be of the same mind with those of corrupt and immoral thinking, even if they profess to be Christians.

And, when it says here that, if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men, this is never about compromising our morals, or truth and righteousness, or God’s values, or his gospel message. We are not to choose peace with all men over peace with God ever. We are not to prefer to be liked by other humans more than being approved by God as his servants. Living for the Lord and doing his will and spreading the message of the gospel have to be top priority. But that will likely get us persecuted, too.

But we are to love our enemies, and do good to them, and pray for them, and be kind to them. And we are to say to them what will be beneficial for them spiritually if they will accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And if they are without food or drink, we are to share with them from what we have in showing them love and kindness despite how we are treated by them, in return. For we are not to be those who are overcome by evil, but we are to be those who overcome evil with good, as our practice.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.


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Loving Our Enemies
An Original Work / December 26, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

stevevw said:

I also think 1 Corinthians 13 applies. I was thinking about how can a Christian live in a world that is becoming more resistent and even hostile towards Christs truth. As mentioned even the church.

I think there are many more conflicting and confrontational situations and relationships today where the majority is becoming anti Christ in various ways. I think sometimes and depending on the situation you have to keep a low profile as far as entering the secular public square to even function today without coming across many situations where your faith will be put on the line.

I think most Christians from my experience keep to themselces and don't really make it known they are a Christian let alone preach the gospel. Thats the way it seems to have become.

Just speaking Christs truth makes you enermies now. Its almost like satan is uising the worlds domination today to tell Christians to shut up and remain on the fringes.

But you can't keep Christ down and when that usually happens bold Christians stand up. Christ church stands up even in the face of death. Its happening now and has always hapened when the world denies Christ. Just like the early Christians who gave their life standing on the truth.

I think Christs truth is exactly what can defeat such evil. To love and forgive your enermy is so radically different in todays culture wars. If the church had a church full of Christians like this today. Like the verse says this giving a drink to their enermy. Then this would be a shinning light in a dark, dark world.

Bring it on. Now is the time I think and many are reproving their faith in response to what has been happening in the world. Its the only way. People are sick of liars, hypocrites and words mean nothing. Thats why Christs example is so different and will offer hope to many.

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Stevevw, thank you for reading, and thank you for your thoughtful and kind response. Much appreciated. Yes, 1 Corinthians 13 fits here. Yes, many more are becoming hostile and indifferent to the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles, as taught in their correct biblical context. And yes, apathy about spiritual matters is consuming much of what is called "church" today. Yes, if you are someone who is holding to the truths of the Scriptures and who is sharing those truths with others, you should expect to not be popular among the people, including within the gatherings of "the church," because you will be an oddball, a dinosaur, so to speak. You won't gain lots of friends on social media, either. And you won't have a lot of people who will want to hang out with you because they will find you weird, for not like everyone else.

stevevw said:

I tend to mostly go to a local Catholic church. Its pretty traditional. Though I always like the modern touch. Not in changing Gods word but in reflecting it to todays culture.

I think thats important and the biblical writers reflected the culture of their time. Jesus did in the parables. This helped people relate better. In this sense I think Christs message can best be told.

I often wondered when Christ said be with the lowest in society whether that meant hanging with sinnders. Not hanging with them but associating with them. Seems a dangerous road if in the end many will hate Jesus.

But I think within that lowly road are many who are longing to hear the good news. So I think its important to tread carefully. Not because of being afraid not to speak out the gospel. But that you will but cut down before you have a chance.

Paul speaks about becoming like those he is speaking to. So not to offend. Not that he becomes like them. But relates to them. Its called building reporte in psychology.

But most of all I have been thinking about how best to speak the gospel. I think right now in a world where theres too much talk, too many voices and worlds become meaningless or continually recreated into new narratives. And theres too much feelings and anger in the public square..

I think the best way is to say nothing. Or very little. If you look baclk at the early church they are constantly saying the diciple or elder was quiet and humber and exampled Christ. Thats it. It was always little words and exampling Christ.

So I think the best way is to just example Christ. Do the actions so that people see this. I cannot understand why there is not a church that does this exactly as the bible. Like we can leave out half of it because its modern times and its out of date.

But really when you think about it and contrast this against how the culture wars and even within the church is all about identities and words all claim the truth. Yet all we see is division and hate.

Then its obvious that following exactly what Christ and the disciples like Paul said would be the perfect counter to all this. It would be so obvious that peoples heads would turn towards God. Now I know many good Christians are like this. But you would think that together we could produce the greatest example to the world. But I also think many are thinking the same and hopefully we will see Christ church once again shining.

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Thank you, again, for sharing your thoughts on this subject. We are all answerable to God for what we do or don't do. Best is to let the Scriptures teach us what is truth and then to do what they instruct us to do as Christ followers.