Tuesday after the Ninth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 16, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 6:32-36 (NKJV)
6:32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”
Devotion
Obviously, the Lord Jesus Christ is not telling us to neglect friends and family for the sake of our enemies. He is calling us to repent of our natural selfishness, which is idolatry. He does not say “do not love those who love you,” but, “love your enemies.” In other words, love all men, but it is harder to love your enemies.
The question is: why do you love someone? Do you love them sincerely and unconditionally, or do you “love” them because you hope to get something out of them? Even wicked men appear to love the members of their own family, because they hope to receive some satisfaction from them. But sincere love is not selfish; it desires the greatest good for both friend and enemy. Therefore, the real test of love’s sincerity is whether it can love an enemy.
God is love (1 John 4:8), therefore He perfectly loves His enemies. He loved them in that He paid the penalty for their sins on the cross. All men, including you and me, are His enemies naturally through sin, as St. Paul explains: “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Our ability to love others is not what saves us; Christ’s love saves us. Those who receive His love through faith are enabled by the Holy Spirit to love others also.
Prayer: Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
