Treasure hunt Part 3

Loving the unlovable

“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Mt 5:43-48

• My faith in Jesus will determine my eternal destination but my behavior will determine my eternal rewards.

• The first behavior that Jesus mentions that will receive a special reward in heaven is for those who “love their enemies.”

The problem is…

• I want my enemies to be punished now!

We want to get “even” but the problem with getting even with someone is that when we become vindictive all we get is “even” and that is a big “maybe.”

“…Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:19b

• I want to have nothing to do with them.

• If I do have to deal with this person, I want to make it as unpleasant as possible for them.

Seven reasons God will reward love

1. Loving reveals that I am a follower of Christ

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John13:34-35

2. Loving is a debt we owe to God

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments,

"Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself.” Rom 13:8-9

3. Loving is a mark of spiritual growth

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” 1 Pet 1:22

4. Loving is an evidence of Christianity

“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” 1 John 3:10

5. Loving is a command

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”

1 John 3:23

6. Loving is a response to God loving me

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God,

because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:7-11

7. Loving demonstrates God’s existence

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:12

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

I love my “enemies” when I…

• Reach Across the Barriers

“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” John 4:8-9

Find a way to connect.

• Offer Forgiveness and not Condemnation

“Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." John 4:14-15

• Speak the truth in love.

“He told her, Go, call your husband and come back. I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, You are right when you say you have no husband.

The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” John 4:16-18