by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Jesus calls us to love even those who will not love us back. In fact, He calls us to love even those who will hate us regardless. That is a tall order. He not only called us up to that standard, but He demonstrated it Himself. To those laughing and mocking, even the ones who called out for His crucifixion, He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!<\/em>” The idea of “love” is not having a good, warm, and fuzzy feeling toward people who hate us, but to desire their eternal good regardless. It is “goodwill”. We cannot settle on being like the world, loving only those who love us, only as long as they love us back. No! That is not the standard.<\/p>\n “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<\/em>” (Matthew 5:43-48 NKJV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What is our reward if we only love as everybody else does? God’s love is much higher than that, and He will not reward His children if they only do as well as the world. Let’s climb up higher in our standards!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Jesus calls us to love even those who will not love us back. In fact, He calls us to love even those who will hate us regardless. That is a tall order. He not only called us up to that standard, but He demonstrated it Himself. To those laughing and mocking,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-95665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":78796,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/love-or-hate\/","url_meta":{"origin":95665,"position":0},"title":"Love or Hate","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton If the Law said to \"hate your enemies\" (via Matthew 5:43), and Jesus was obligated to uphold the Law, then Jesus was obligated to hate His enemies, and He would have sinned if He did not hate his enemies. No! That will not work! Jesus does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51687,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-hardest-command\/","url_meta":{"origin":95665,"position":1},"title":"What Is the Hardest Command?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant From time to time, we see articles written about love. We remember a lawyer asking Jesus a question, \"trying him: Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/KirklandMemorial-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20662,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-separate-a-man-from-his-deeds-hating-his-sins-while-loving-his-soul\/","url_meta":{"origin":95665,"position":2},"title":"Should we separate a man from his deeds, hating his sins while loving his soul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding the love of God for man: I believe that God can separate the man from\u00a0sin.\u00a0 Therefore, God can love the man, but hate the sin.\u00a0 Do you agree with this?\u00a0 Are there scriptures that indicate this? Where Jesus tells us to love your enemies\u00a0in Matthew 5, I believe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22971,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-an-absent-father-be-invited-to-graduation\/","url_meta":{"origin":95665,"position":3},"title":"Should an absent father be invited to graduation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My neighbor has a son who is confused about whether to invite his father to his 8th-grade graduation.\u00a0 The parents are divorced and his dad has only called twice in the last two years.\u00a0 His father has only visited a handful of times over the past twelve years. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28209,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-are-to-love-your-enemies-why-did-david-kill-goliath\/","url_meta":{"origin":95665,"position":4},"title":"If you are to love your enemies, why did David kill Goliath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was listening to a sermon about how to be\u00a0a man after God's heart. He was speaking about love,\u00a0and\u00a0he said David loved Saul\u00a0even when Saul tried to kill him and searched for\u00a0him for years.\u00a0Even if Saul\u00a0became David's enemy, David would never\u00a0do the same against Saul. 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Answer: \"These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}