Discover The Word

Monday, November 28, 2011

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father 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. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48).

IDEA: Loving your enemies isn’t a condition to being a disciple of Jesus; it is a result of belonging to Him.

PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate how seeking the best for our enemies reflects our relationship to our Father in heaven.

Would you agree that a major test of whether you belong to God’s family is revealed in how you respond to your enemies?
Do you think it is a condition for belonging to God’s family?

I. How do you respond to Jesus’ teaching about how we are to treat our enemies (Matthew 5:10-12, 43-44)?

Some scholars assert that love of enemies is a condition for entering the kingdom of heaven. How do you respond to that? Why?

Is Jesus saying that such behavior will by itself make disciples into God’s children? (Notice that 5:16 implies the status is already theirs.)

II. How will you respond to the implication that if we are Christ-followers, we will have enemies? Do you have enemies?

If people dislike us, does it necessarily mean that it is because we are followers of Jesus?

If there are those whom you could characterize as “enemies,” do you pray for them?

Why do we find this direction of Jesus one that we seldom follow?

III. There are Muslims and atheists that believe the world would be better off without us. Does any of this have anything to do with them?