Week of February 9, 2025
The Good and Beautiful Life: Bless, Not Curse
Among the most challenging (and indeed counter human nature) of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount is that we are to love our enemies by blessing those who hate us. It is easy to dismiss this teaching as wholly impractical for ordinary living and even unjust as it would seem fairer to give our enemies what (we think) they deserve. Yet Jesus calls us to act like God who does not give us what we deserve. He gives us what we need out of his gracious love. This week we venture into a Jesus-inspired life of blessing, not cursing.
Monday | Matthew 5:38-42
Common to much ancient law was a desire to keep retaliation from escalating guided by principles like, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” However, Jesus states that we are not to retaliate with violence at all, but rather to respond with forbearance and even generosity. What drives a desire to retaliate? What are situations in which we need to resist evil? How do you turn righteous anger into a force that does good?
Tuesday | Matthew 5:43-48
Leviticus 19:18 commands God’s people to love their neighbor. There is no corresponding command in Scripture to hate your enemy (though some psalms get close!), but it is very much human nature to respond to hostility with an equal measure of antagonism. Jesus, however, give us a higher calling of loving even our enemies … to love the unlovable. What does love for enemies look like? What motivates such love? (see 5:45). What can be the impact of such love on an enemy?
Wednesday | Luke 6:27-36
This is Luke’s version of what we believe is a core teaching of Jesus that he would likely have communicated frequently in his ministry. What makes this so challenging is that Jesus doesn’t seem to just say, “Don’t retaliate,” which would allow us to distance ourselves from our enemies. Rather he calls us to love them. How in practical terms have you loved one of your enemies? Again, who provides the model for this kind of extraordinary love? (vs.35-36). How has God shown such extraordinary love for you?
Thursday | Romans 12:17-21
Here the Apostle Paul addresses the response of Christians to their enemies. They were to seek peace rather than act in hostility, to show kindness rather than to seek revenge, to overcome evil with good. “Heaping burning coals” may use an ancient image of being ashamed and repentant. Can you give an example of how sustained kindness changed someone’s attitude toward you? Toward Jesus? How does Paul’s instruction help evangelism then and now? To whom do Christians look to for justice?
Friday | 1 Peter 3:13-17
The Apostle Peter’s teaching carries the same sense that love of enemies is closely connected to evangelism. How will we treat others if we “set apart Christ as Lord” (v. 15)? What does this same verse tell us to be prepared to do? What did Peter believe that Christian’s consistent goodness would bring about? Does this same evangelistic strategy work today? Why or why not?
