Love Your Enemies
Quote: Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another. – Thomas Hughes
Text: Luke 6:27-36
Prop: A child’s toy or poster of Golden Rule
Summary: The Golden Rule – As you would that others do to you, do so to them.
Look at this toy I brought with me today. I like to play with toys. Do you like to play with toys? [Listen to answers.] Let me ask you something. Do you share your toys with your friends? [Listen to answers.] But let me ask you something different. If there was a new boy or girl in your class, would you share your new toy with someone you didn’t know that well? Now it really gets tougher. What if it was the class bully, the one that tried to take away your new toys without even asking, would you share with him or her? [listen for answers] Now let me ask you one more question: What would Jesus do? Let’s read in the Bible to find out.
[Read Luke 6:27-36]
Many times in the Bible we learn that God loves everyone, even those that are mean and unthankful. Jesus taught us a radical kind of love. He said Love your enemies. He said we would have a reward in heaven if we love those that hate us. If we lend our toys, or anything that is important to us, to others without expecting anything in return, we are doing what Jesus would do. He taught us what is known as the Golden Rule. He said whatever we wanted others to do for us, that is what we should do for them. If we act from a heart filled with love, even to those that hate us, we can make the world a better place to live.
If we only share our toys with our friends, we are doing what anyone else would do. There’s nothing special about that. To be more like Jesus, we have to learn to love the unlovable. We have to learn to treat our enemies like we would want to be treated. That’s really hard, but it is possible. Sometimes when we do that, the bully in them may just give way to a kinder heart and they might not be so mean. Let’s learn to love everyone and to share our toys.
©1998 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.