LOVE BOTH YOUR ENEMIES AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU

Clyde Herrin has a thoughtful Christian blog. His last couple of posts are about Christian love, how love is central to the message of Jesus Christ. Loving others focuses upon Christ’s message to love our enemies. Because loving our enemies is so unnatural and difficult for us, one of the things we do when we talk about Christian love is focus too much on loving our enemies.

Too much? How can we focus to much on love? How can there be something wrong with Clyde Herrin‘s post, Loving others? Well, there isn’t anything wrong with Clyde Herrin‘s post. We just need to remember that the Bible has much to say about loving our family, friends, neighbors, and countrymen, and one of the ways we show love is to protect those we love.

Consider this verse.

Matthew 7:6 New King James Version

⁶ “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

When we encounter people who cannot be reasoned with, people who would harm those God calls upon us to protect, then we must not give these enemies pearls or what is holy. In fact, we may have to destroy them.

Our protectors, policemen and soldiers, love us and need our love too. Let us remember to pray for our protectors, to ask our Lord to give them them wisdom and the perseverance to endure when they have little evidence that we appreciate them and their efforts on our behalf.

Consider.

Genesis 2:21-24 New King James Version

²¹ And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He [a]made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called ^[b]Woman,
Because she was taken out of ^[c]Man.”

²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be^[d] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Some relationships are more special than others. The Apostle Paul uses marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33) to both explain how much Jesus Christ loves us and how much we should love Him. Exodus 20:12 commands children to honor their parents. Luke 19:41-44 tells us how Jesus wept for Jerusalem. The Jews were His people. Because we share fellowship in Christ, Christians are special to each other. John 13:35 says the world will know us by our love for one another.

Therefore, we should not be ashamed when we love some people more than we love others. Instead, we should be grateful that God has made some people who are special to us. In gratitude, we should be protective of those who love us, and we should just strive to love everyone as much as we can.