Love Your Enemies
Luke 6:27-36
The Revolutionary Call to Love Your Enemies
There's something deeply uncomfortable about the words of Jesus in Luke 6:27-36. They cut against every natural instinct we possess. They challenge the very foundations of how we navigate relationships, conflicts, and hurt. Yet within this discomfort lies one of the most transformative truths of the Christian faith: the kingdom of God operates by a radically different standard.
When Rivalry Becomes Real
We understand rivalry in sports. We cheer for our teams, we celebrate their victories, and yes, we secretly enjoy watching our rivals lose. It's harmless competition, entertainment that adds flavor to our lives. No one gets hurt when the Giants lose the World Series or when the 49ers fall short in overtime.
But what happens when we take that same competitive, win-lose mentality and apply it to real life? When that coworker undermines us, when that family member never apologizes, when that friend betrays our trust—suddenly, the rivalry isn't fun anymore. We start avoiding people. Resentment builds. Arguments escalate. And if we're painfully honest, we might find ourselves hoping they fail, feeling a twisted satisfaction when they do.
It's precisely into these moments that Jesus speaks some of his most challenging words: "Love your enemies."
A Different Kingdom, A Different Standard
When Jesus commands his disciples to love their enemies, he's not offering self-help advice for a more peaceful life. He's describing the culture of an entirely different kingdom—the kingdom of God. Notice the clarity of his words in Luke 6:27-29:
"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."
Jesus doesn't say "try to love" or "feel love toward." He removes all ambiguity. Love here is not an emotion or a feeling—love is a decision expressed through action. It's doing good when hate is directed at you. It's blessing when you're being cursed. It's praying for those who cause you pain.
Our world runs on a completely different system: If you're good to me, I'll be good to you. If you hurt me, I'll hurt you. This feels natural because it's built on fairness, self-protection, and payback. But the kingdom of God introduces a revolutionary system where love is not reactive, kindness is not conditional, and mercy is not earned.
Then comes the famous "Golden Rule" in verse 31: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." We love quoting this verse, but we rarely connect it to its proper context. Jesus isn't talking about treating our friends nicely. He's applying this standard specifically to enemies.
The real question becomes: How would you want to be treated when you're at your worst? When you're wrong? When you've hurt someone? That's the standard Jesus calls his followers to live by.
Mercy: The Strategy of Heaven
After delivering these challenging commands, Jesus anticipates our objections. In verses 32-35, he dismantles the logic we rely on:
"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them."
Jesus repeats this pattern three times—loving those who love you, doing good to those who do good to you, lending to those who can repay you. Each time, his response is the same: "Even sinners do that."
Jesus isn't impressed by love that comes easy, by love that costs us nothing. That kind of love requires no faith and reveals nothing about the kingdom of God.
The world believes power comes from control, from leverage, from being right, from winning arguments. But the kingdom of God declares that power flows through mercy and grace.
Consider the pattern of Jesus's own life. When James and John wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village that rejected them, Jesus rebuked them. The mission of Christ was to save lives, not destroy them. When Peter cut off the servant's ear in the Garden of Gethsemane, ready to fight for Jesus, Jesus stopped him and healed the man. Even in the moment of his own arrest, Jesus chose restoration over retaliation.
And on the cross, surrounded by mockers and executioners, those who spat on him and ridiculed him, Jesus prayed: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
That wasn't weakness. That was the strategy of heaven.
When believers love their enemies, something undeniable happens—the world sees Jesus. People begin to wonder: Why would you respond like that? What kind of God do you serve? Where did that grace come from?
This is why loving our enemy is deeply missional. It points beyond us to God himself. As Paul writes in Romans 12, we overcome evil not by matching it, but by outlasting it with goodness. Peter echoes this truth: when we live honorably, even those who accuse us "may see your good deeds and glorify God" (1 Peter 2:12).
Mercy has evangelistic power.
Knowing the Father Changes Everything
But where does this kind of mercy come from? None of us can love our enemies through sheer willpower or greater effort. Jesus knows this, which is why he ends his teaching by pointing us back to the character of God himself:
"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36).
Notice the word "as." Jesus isn't saying be merciful so that God will love you. He's saying be merciful because that is what your Father is like. Mercy is not a performance; mercy is a family resemblance.
Children reflect their parents. When followers of Jesus show mercy, they look like God. They point people to Christ.
The truth we cannot deny is this: none of us were loved by God because we were easy to love. Romans 5:8 declares, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Verse 10 goes further: "While we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son."
When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, he's not asking us to do something he hasn't already done. He's inviting us to live out what we've already received. We forgive because we've been forgiven. We show mercy because mercy found us. We love our enemies because God loved us first while we were his enemies.
From Effort to Overflow
Loving our enemy doesn't start with our own strength. It starts with surrendering to God's will. Mercy doesn't flow from more effort or trying harder. Mercy flows from a soft and humble heart that stays close to the Father.
Sometimes we spend time with God out of routine—reading our Bible, praying, checking the spiritual boxes—but we're not truly enjoying His presence. We're going through the motions. But mercy doesn't flow from religious routines. Mercy flows from a genuine relationship with God.
When we slow down, when we genuinely enjoy God's presence, we become more like Him. And when we become more like our Father, mercy starts to flow naturally through our lives.
Practical Mercy
What does this look like in real life?
Sometimes showing mercy looks like praying for someone before you ever speak to them. Sometimes it looks like releasing the need to always be right. Sometimes it looks like asking God to heal your heart before changing theirs.
Mercy doesn't mean reconciliation will always happen. Mercy means bitterness will no longer have control over you.
The question isn't "Who is your enemy?" The real question is: "Where is God inviting you to show mercy the way He showed mercy to you?"
The kingdom of God doesn't move forward through force or by overpowering enemies. The kingdom moves forward through changed lives, through mercy and grace.
The most powerful testimony in the world isn't "I defeated my enemy" or "I was right; I won that argument." The most powerful testimony is: "I loved my enemy, I showed them mercy, and they met Jesus."
When we encounter the Father, the Lord of mercy, our hearts slowly begin to reflect His heart. The more clearly we see God as merciful, the more naturally mercy flows through our lives. This is the revolutionary call of the kingdom—not to defeat our enemies, but to love them, and in doing so, to reveal the heart of a merciful Father to a watching world.