The Most Radical Remedy

Luke 6:27-31 But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Ask God to bless the people who ask for bad things to happen to you. Pray for the people who are mean to you. If someone hits you on the side of your face, let them hit the other side too. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop them from taking your shirt too. Give to everyone who asks you for something. When someone takes something that is yours, don’t ask for it back. Do for others what you want them to do for you.

Long-standing, deep-seated hatred is as old as time itself. It began when Adam and Eve’s son Cain murdered his brother Abel, and right down to the present day it’s still destroying lives en masse.

Look at the Middle East; the many conflicts across the beautiful and resource-rich continent of Africa; the race hate in so many parts of the world; the vitriol spewed across the ever-widening political divide; the marriages being torn apart, destroying the lives of children.

If only we could expunge hatred from the face of this earth. And yet, it lives on in the hearts of so many, which is why Jesus said this to common, ordinary folk like you and me:

Luke 6:27-31 But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Ask God to bless the people who ask for bad things to happen to you. Pray for the people who are mean to you. If someone hits you on the side of your face, let them hit the other side too. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop them from taking your shirt too. Give to everyone who asks you for something. When someone takes something that is yours, don’t ask for it back. Do for others what you want them to do for you.

That’s the single most radical response to hatred in the history of humanity: do the complete opposite of what comes naturally in the face of hatred.

I love what American social worker and academic Brené Brown said: People are hard to hate close up. Move in. Speak truth … be civil. Hold hands with strangers. Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart.

Love your enemy. Do good to those who hate you.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.