"I'm pretty sure when Jesus said to love your enemies he meant 'Don't kill them.'" ...

There is so much more to it than that ...

jessica, would you care to teach us how much more there is than that?

peace

I don't know about "teaching" you, but I'll share with you what I'm thinking.

In the garden of Gethsemane, when Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss and the high priest’s servants seize Jesus (we would consider them enemies), the men surrounding him ask if they should attack. One of the men with Jesus reaches out with a sword and hacks off the ear of one of them, one of the enemies. Jesus' response is not "Kill him." Instead, he touches the man and heals him (Luke 22). He sees a need in front of him and serves his enemy. Another example is Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus. And still, Jesus loves him and serves him by washing his feet, even though he knew before Judas even knew that it would happen.

Luke 6 talks about loving our enemies. "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return..." Matthew 5:44 says, “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 …”

Loving our enemies is more than just sparing their lives. It's serving them, blessing them, doing good to them, praying for them.

It isn't easy to serve our enemies. It is certainly easier to spare their lives (most of us would not go out and literally kill our enemies) [not that we are above that; we all have the capability to sin and do evil].

I have a person in my life right now and I would consider her my enemy. Her betrayal and lies have cost me much and caused a lot of grief not only in my life but for people I love and care about as well. Unfortunately, she is also a family member and the betrayal hurts so much more because of that.

That statement on the bumper sticker strikes something in me as I reflect on the situation in my life...It is not easy to love our enemies and serve them.

I am only learning this. My comment was not made in arrogance or in a way that would make it seem like I've perfected this. At least, that was not my intention. Because I haven't. I'm not even close to even grasping what this looks like in my life right now.

And as I sit and I contemplate this (and I've been writing this for awhile in the middle of homework and other things) at 3 o'clock in the morning, I am starting to think of this in a different way. Bear with me as I sort this out.

If we look at "kill" as a literal term, as in murder, that's one thing. If we look at "kill" as a term of destruction (to destroy), that's another thing.

I mean, we can kill people with weapons, literally murdering and taking life from someone. But we can kill people with malice in our hearts. We can kill people with gossip and words meant to tear people down. James 3 calls the tongue “a fire, a world of iniquity … an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” Poison kills. In the same way that a poison can destroy a life by ending it, our words and malice can destroy a person as well.

If we take it in that sense, and if our words are hateful and full of anger and spite, then we are indeed “killing our enemies”. And so that statement, “don’t kill them” fits and is right, you know?

As I think about the situation I am faced with and as I reflect on how I should be responding to my enemy, I am fighting an urge to ignore the message. She really hurt me and cost me a lot. She betrayed me and I lost people I love because of her. I don’t want to serve her. I don’t want to bless her or pray for her (except maybe that God would show His wrath upon her and she would be faced with the betrayal of someone she trusted and loved). I don’t want to do it. But I know that I need to.

Just some of my thoughts. Sorry it's so long.

so love means serving our enemies, which is more than "not killing" or "parting ways".

I encourage that subversive thought...but I don't know that it is incarnate in my life.