Now That's RADICAL

 January 21, 2026

Matthew 5:43–45 

“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 children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” 

Today’s message gets right to the heart of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus takes well-known moral standards and gives them a fresh, deeper meaning, setting a higher standard for life in the kingdom of God. In these words above Jesus calls us to a love that breaks the cycle of retaliation. A love that reflects God the Father’s impartial mercy. This teaching by Jesus, points us toward a spiritual maturity in which loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us, becomes the common practice of God's Kingdom people.

Jesus challenges the common belief of his time that loving your neighbor could go hand in hand with hating your enemy, replacing it with a bold new ethic: a love that reaches beyond simple trade of mutually beneficial practices. Our verses above echo the Old Testament call of love for neighbor but then Jesus goes further, calling his followers to reflect God’s generous kindness toward all people. From the perspective of Jesus, the call and indeed the challenge of loving enemies is a deliberate, countercultural practice that points to God’s restorative purposes. This kind of loving action reflects God’s practice of providing sun and rain to both the righteous and the unrighteous, demonstrating that God's goodness transcends human distinctions or categories. I believe we understand the challenge of this teaching it is one thing to love a neighbor who acts in loving ways toward us, however, it is quite another thing to love an enemy who is unloving toward us, one who may be downright hateful toward us, even threatening.

I once heard someone say, "Praying for persecutors is the engine of this love." Maybe prayer really is the key. I wonder if it shifts our hearts from retaliation to intercession, from bitterness to compassion, and brings us into alignment with the Father who gives good gifts to both the righteous and the unrighteous.

I remember attending a conference in which we were asked to name one person that we found hard to love. Do that yourself right now does someone come to mind? Then at the conference we were asked, challenged I should say, to spend five minutes each morning praying specifically for that person’s needs, not their punishment. Let's be honest that is a tough ask isn't it. How many of us in response to this suggestion were made uncomfortable and immediately put up some resistance. I sure did at the conference. 

**Just to be clear, loving your enemies doesn’t mean putting up with abuse or ignoring healthy boundaries. If you’re dealing with ongoing harm, prioritize your safety and seek guidance while practicing prayer and forgiveness in ways that do not put you at risk. It’s possible to love an enemy while still protecting yourself and others, those two things can go hand in hand. **

In time after that conference, I discovered that the practice of prayer for my enemies, and small acts of kindness toward someone who had wronged me: a greeting, a handshake, a brief note, or a helpful gesture, attending the funeral of their loved one. These little steps weakened hatred’s hold and set me free.

Why does this matter? Loving only those who love us is easy; Jesus calls us to become children of our Heavenly Father by imitating His amzing indiscriminate grace, which grows us toward a spiritual maturity that becomes a profound and undeniable witness to the watching world of the healing and freedom God's Holy Spirit can bring into our lives, and into theirs too, whether neighbors or enemies. 

Let's Pray

Lord, give me the courage to care for those I’d rather keep at a distance. Show me how to pray for my enemies so my heart can be changed by Your mercy. Help me show Your kindness to everyone in small, consistent ways. Amen.