Gospel Reflections #513: Only through Christ

Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

We are sinners who, because we are under the influence of sin, can hate our enemies without difficulty, but we cannot and do not want to love them.

But "God's love" is to forgive and to accept.

It is also true that Jesus is the only one who can do that.

God knows that our continued hatred is destroying us and separating us from Him, and He is working to keep us from doing so.

We must exercise our faith by choice, not by emotion.

When we cannot choose to forgive and love our enemies with our "feelings," but we want to choose to do so with our "faith," and we feel that we may not even be able to do that, we can surrender our feelings to God.

God knows that we cannot love our enemies. Through our asking for God's help, our seeking to live in His will, and our believing and surrendering what we cannot do but Jesus can do, God will work in our hearts and move us to forgive, love, and pray for our enemies.He moves us to forgive, love, and pray for our enemies.

Because we who believe in Jesus have been freed by Him from the "chains of sin, of hating and resenting our enemies," we can choose to do His will and His love without being held captive by it.

No, we can't and we don't want to, but only Jesus can change our hearts, and by continually seeking Him, we are made more like Him.

We can receive God's power and grace only when we admit and confess that we cannot do it.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.