“Love your enemies! Do good to them… You will truly be acting as children of the Most High, who is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Luke 6:35).
Heavenly Father, this is one of many verses in your Word that begs for clarification, but I’m going to start my day with what is unmistakably clear, not what is perplexing—even offensive. You have been and are astonishingly generous with me in the Gospel. “All” that’s true of me this morning is that I’m 100% forgiven of all my sins—not just the many of which I’m aware. Jesus’ cross was my Judgment Day, and his righteousness is now counted as mine. You love me as much as you love Jesus—just as you do each of your children.
According to your Word, the affection you have for us is described as you greatly delighting in us and rejoicing over us with loud singing—even as you are committed to quiet us with your love (Zeph.3:17). This is stunning, astounding, and more wonderful than all the stuff I don’t like about the universe is bad, broken, and evil.
So here’s the deal, Abba. I’m not going to get “bent out of shape” about what you mean by telling me to love my enemies. I’m not going to spin my wheels qualifying to death what loving wicked people cannot possibly mean.
Instead, I am going to spend more time lamenting my ingratitude towards you, and taking to heart what John Owen, the English Puritan said: “The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him is not to believe that he loves you”.
Maybe that’s my wickedness, Father—disbelieving, under-believing, forgetting, marginalizing the riches of your grace. I really do want to be kinder towards others—all kinds of “others.” But above everything, I want to love you as you love me. I want to worship you with unfettered, unfiltered adoration. Thank you for being relentlessly kind to me, your under-grateful son. So Very Amen.