Haters: Your Heart’s Response to Enemies
It seems that there is an increasingly prevalent trend of making our own rules when it comes to dealing with those that we deem to be enemies, whether the enemies are to us, our loved ones, or to God Himself. Many of us simply lack an understanding of how to walk like Christ when it comes to enemies. There are others, however, who have mastered the art of perpetrating a seemingly godly response to enemies, both in word and in deed, but the truth is that we often simultaneously maintain and harbor attitudes and emotions in our hearts that are not pleasing to God. As the Word of God says in I Sam 16:7, “the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” Throughout the Word, those who oppose God and His people have been dealt with very harshly, but too frequently we are more interested in indulging our emotions or mimicking and reenacting the harsh judgments ordained and handed down by God than we are in presenting our hearts to Him in an acceptable condition. But Jesus said “Blessed are the PURE in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). It’s not the outward response to enemies but the inward state of our hearts that will hold weight with the Lord.
When encountering enemies, again whether we consider them to be our enemies, enemies of those we care for, or enemies of the Lord, there are a number of highly common responses that plague us as believers:
1. We justify our feelings of offense based on what they’ve done wrong.
The fact that someone has committed an offense against us does not grant us a right to become offended and hold contempt or disrespect towards our enemies or wrongdoers. Many of us are quick to take on an attitude of disdain, pride, and superiority towards the offender. We must realize, though, that even if they are wrong or sin against us, our example, Jesus Christ, did not operate this way even toward those who did not believe in Him, nor towards those who abused and ultimately contributed to His physical death. He says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either…If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:27-36). No matter who is right or wrong, and our enemies may often be very wrong, we must continue to regard them in the way in which we are commanded. If we do otherwise, we are, as the Word suggests, no different than a sinner.
2. We discuss the wrong they’ve done out of offense, often speaking harsh and malicious words.
Oftentimes we will choose to openly express our feelings, to others and even to the enemies themselves, but from a heart that has been tainted towards our enemies. We speak from feelings of anger and offense, placing emphasis on the wrong done to us and even attempting to administer godly admonishment to our enemies in the midst of emotional turmoil. We must remember foremost, though, that “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). The Bible says in Eph 4:29-32, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” And not only that, but making attempts to “best” and “one up” our enemies while angry by using scripture quotes or condescending advice is not a practice that yields godly fruit, because again, the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 3:14-15 says, “if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” Please reread and understand that. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17-18).
3. We seek revenge
Scripture is very clear that the way that we repay our enemies should not be by doing evil to them. “ Do not repay evil for evil…but on the contrary, bless” (I Peter 3:9). Revenge brings satisfaction to our flesh, not glory to God. Whether we seek to retaliate through our physical actions or through verbal means, be clear that those responses are not in alignment with God’s Word. Romans 12:19-21 says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
4. We hope that our enemies fall or fail, and we gloat when they do.
Having the mind of Christ, we must keep even what happens to our enemies in proper perspective. Jesus Himself asked for forgiveness for those who viciously tormented Him, yet we mistakenly feel justified in wishing harm towards our enemies. The Lord says in Ezekiel 18:23, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked…and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” At times, we are very quick to laugh, taunt, tease, celebrate, and “that’s what you get” when we see our enemies fall or fail. However the Bible says, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him” (Proverbs 24:17).
As we can see clearly from the Word of God, hatred for our enemies is unfounded by the Lord’s standards. Throughout the Word, there are times to take action against enemies, yes, but our hearts must remain pure and pleasing to God–despising sin, iniquity, wrongdoing, but regarding people themselves in the matter by which we are commanded in His Word. It is written in Romans 16 to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. Be obedient to the word, but we must also remember that Paul said in 2 Thess 3:14-15, if anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. In the context of these letters, there are times to shun people as enemies, and there are times to shun them as brethren. Depend on godly wisdom to lead you in the difference, but again, in all of that, keep your hearts in line with the Word. Be mindful that Jesus said if we love Him, we will obey His commands. When is comes to His commands regarding our enemies, it often seems that we love self, our pride, our desires, our thoughts & ideas above our love for Him. We like the feeling of “being right,” but when we determine that our behavior is justified whether or not we line up with the written Word and God’s will for us, we have crossed over into dangerous territory. We deem people to be enemies of God, ourselves, and our love ones so that we may be free to release our emotions without restraint, but must be sure that in dealing with enemies in our hearts, we ourselves remain pleasing to God, lest we become His enemies. “But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live?” says Ezekiel 18:24, “None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
We all know how important love is to pleasing God, and the Word says to love even your enemies. So let’s leave off with this scripture from I Cor 13:4-8: “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].”
Be blessed.
(Feel free to listen to the brief audio teaching based on this blog here:)
