爱我的仇敌？

“你们听见有话说：‘当爱你的邻舍，恨你的仇敌。’只是我告诉你们，要爱你们的仇敌，为那逼迫你们的祷告。” - 太 5:43-44

然而，这确实是耶稣对你和我的命令。它触及了耶稣福音的核心。它表明神在基督里的爱摧毁了我们原本罪恶和破碎的生活方式。

仇敌的定义是我们仇恨的人。基督用祂超自然的爱取代了我们天然的仇恨，从而带来翻转。

若没有基督，我们便无法拥有这样的爱。我不能，你也不能。靠我自己，我将继续恨那些伤害过我的人，或者我认为是卑鄙的人。我无法去爱我的仇敌，但基督能做到。

保罗在罗马书写道：“因为我们作仇敌的时候，且藉着神儿子的死，得与神和好”（罗 5:10）。这节经文是对在基督里的救赎的简短总结。我们曾经是神的仇敌，但基督使我们与神和好，所以现在我们成了神的朋友。

基督使祂在整个世界中的仇敌都与神和好了。所以祂肯定能处理好我和我的仇敌之间所需的和解。但我需要向祂祈求这种超自然的爱。这需要一个类似如下的祷告：

神啊，以我自己的力量，我无法原谅或爱我的仇敌。请赐给我耶稣所显明的爱，在我还作你仇敌的时候，祂就为我的罪付上了代价，并帮助我因耶稣的缘故与我的仇敌和好。阿们。

43“你们听见有话说：‘当爱你的邻舍，恨你的仇敌。’
44只是我告诉你们，要爱你们的仇敌，为那逼迫你们的祷告，
45这样就可以做你们天父的儿子，因为他叫日头照好人也照歹人，降雨给义人也给不义的人。
46你们若单爱那爱你们的人，有什么赏赐呢？就是税吏不也是这样行吗？
47你们若单请你弟兄的安，比人有什么长处呢？就是外邦人不也是这样行吗？
48所以你们要完全，像你们的天父完全一样。

Love My Enemies?

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. . . .’" - Matthew 5:43-44

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This is the hardest command I know. Love my enemies?

Yet this truly is Jesus’ command for you and me. It gets to the heart of the good news of Jesus. It shows that God’s love in Christ undermines our naturally sinful and broken way of life.

An enemy is, by definition, someone we hate. Christ overthrows this by replacing our natural hatred with his supernatural love.

We cannot possess such love without Christ. I can’t; you can’t. On my own, I will keep on hating people who have hurt me, or whom I think are despicable. I do not have the capacity to love my enemies, but Christ does.

In Romans, Paul writes that “while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). This verse is a short summary of salvation in Christ. We were once the enemies of God, but Christ reconciled us to God so that now we are friends.

Christ reconciled an entire world-full of enemies to God. So he can surely handle the reconciliation needed between me and my enemies. But I will have to ask him for that supernatural love. It will take a prayer something like this:

Prayer

O God, in my own strength I cannot forgive or love my enemies. Give me the love that Jesus showed by dying to pay for my sin when I was your enemy, and help me to reconcile with my enemies for Jesus’ sake. Amen.