9 October 2020

Bless Your Enemies

Luke 6:27-28 (NIV) 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Proverbs 25:21-22 (NIV) “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. 22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”

Romans 12:21 (NKJV) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

2 Samuel 9:3-7 (NIV) “The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”… 5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar… 7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.””

Can you imagine, having the grandson of the man that tried to kill you eating dinner with you every night? That takes a man of great character. You may have had people that did you wrong; we all have. Don’t be bitter, be a David; overcome the evil with good.

Life is too short to live angry, trying to get even; turn that over to God. The sooner you learn to bless your enemies, to be good to those that have done you wrong, the better off you're going to be.

Blessing your enemies shows God that you have the character to go higher. It's easy to be good to those that have been good to you, but when you can be good to people that have done you wrong, you're an exceptional person.

Romans 12:14-20 (NIV) “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

The word “bless,” in the context of the above-quoted Scripture, conveys the meaning of “calling down by prayer a blessing on him who persecutes us.” When we bless someone, we refrain from cursing him. We bless with our lips, by what we say, but our blessings of others need to come from the heart, not only from our lips.

Psalm 62:4b (NIV) “With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse.”

Matthew 5:44 (NIV) “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” The commentary of Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says about Matthew 5:44: Bless them that curse you – The word ‘bless’ here means to ‘speak well of’ or ‘speak well to:’ – not to curse again or to slander, but to speak of those things which we can commend in an enemy; or, if there is nothing that we can commend, to say nothing about him.”