As a pastor, this is the one question we have to ask ourselves most often. Why do I have to love my enemies. But, before we get to answering this hard question, we have to agree on what an enemy is. For the purpose of this message an enemy is anyone who has taken a personal interest in harming or causing hardship to another person. An enemy can do this by committing knowingly hurtful acts or by refusing or withholding actions which will lead to the harm of another. An enemy says whenever I have an opportunity to do something that will hurt or bring hardship to this person, I will do it. The enemy can also say that I will refuse to do anything that I know will prevent harm from coming to this other person. An enemy is personally involved in harming another person. As a pastor, I see this most often in that curse upon the American family called divorce. Because of the hurt of divorce, I have seen otherwise nice law abiding people become almost possessed with causing hardship and harm to their estranged spouse. They will refuse to cooperate concerning the care and custody of their children, tell vicious lies, destroy property, break the law, quit their jobs, and run away in order to hurt the other. What were once romantic lovers and caring parents have turned in to mortal enemies, personally dedicated to creating as much trouble and pain as they can for the other. Sometimes I think it is a form of insanity. Now the best example of an enemy, that sticks in my mind is regretfully myself, because of something I did in my years before I met Jesus Christ as my savior. I had come to Macon Georgia from Oklahoma City to start a new job developing a formal training program for an automotive company with many stores throughout the south. After I developed the program, I had to have it published. The company president directed me to work with the advertising department to produce the material. The head of the department was a very ambitions, young, and fashionable lady who was part of the nightclub crowd. She would have little to do with this, fresh out of school, okie, who was trying to make a good first impression with the company president. She just never did give me the help I needed to produce the companys new training program. In my eyes, she had become my enemy. She was intentionally, withholding her expertise which I needed to complete my assignment. I worked hard day and night to learn the advertising department production skills to produce and promote the companys training program myself. I got my well done pat on the back from the president, but I never forgot this young woman, who was the head of the advertising department. In fact, I took a passive, but, personal interest in her career! Well, this lady, moved on to bigger and better things in Atlanta, and I moved up the company ladder to become a vice-president and director of personnel. Several years after she left the company, the position of advertising department head, came open again, and I was now my responsibility and authority to fill the position. Low and behold, who do I find applying for the job, but this same lady? She was now desperately looking for employment to support herself and her son. Regrettably, I still took a personal interest in her harm and hardship, and I did not offer her the job. After many pleas to be considered for her old job again, she asked me why. I told her, it was because of the way she treated me long ago. The tables had reversed! To her, I was her enemy! But even worse for me, I had become an enemy. I had done worse than she had ever done to me.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 14:41:02 +0000
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