SEASON 4: SERIES: THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE: EPISODE 7: YOUR HATERS/ENEMIES NEED LOVE TOO!

YOU ARE INVITED, THE DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN: JESUS HAS
EXTENDED THE INVITATION, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU HAVE BEEN
INVITED IN TO SPEND THIS LIFE AND YOUR LIFE AFTER THIS WITH HIM.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH AND HEART SO HE CAN SAVE
YOU, MOLD YOU INTO A NEW CREATION. WILL YOU ACCEPT, WILL YOU SAY
YES TODAY?

INTRODUCTION: THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE: YOUR
HATERS/ENEMIES NEED LOVE TOO!


Matthew 5:43-48


43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.’  44 But I tell you, love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  45
that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his
sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.  46 If you love those
who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax
collectors doing that?  47 And if you greet only your
people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans
do that?  48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly
Father is perfect.


As human beings, we will have enemies. These people are
definitely against your happiness and progress. They want you to
fail, and they try at any opportunity to hurt you. When you are
successful, they are miserable and jealous of you. The scriptures
are very clear; God wants us to love everyone. That includes your
family members, friends, strangers, and enemies. What matters is
faithful obedience from the heart. 

God requires us to do this and we should want to do it because we
are loved by God and we love God. Col 1:21. We all were once
alienated from God and were enemies in our minds because of our
evil behavior.

Loving our enemies doesn’t mean allowing them to continue to hurt
us. Loving Your Enemies Empowers You,  show that Jesus is
the Lord of your life, you do what God wants you to do, and put
you on your knees more often in prayer. Often enemies start as
friends, and something goes wrong in the relationship, such as
marriages, friends, coworkers, family members, neighbors, and
other Christians.. Some describe an enemy as a "bad friend". Your
enemies are here to make you more like Christ 


“We cannot pray in love and live in hate and still think we are
worshipping God”. -A.W. Tozer


On November 17, 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. preached a sermon on
loving our enemies, and here are some things he mentioned in the
sermon:


"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." 


a person “to discover the element of good in his enemy, and
every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that
person, realize that there is some good there


“hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil
in the universe. . . . The strong person is the person who can
cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. . . . and inject
within the very structure of the universe that strong and
powerful element of love.” 


SCRIPTURES TO LIVE BY: 


Proverbs 24:17-18- “Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall;
don’t be happy when they stumble.  For the Lord will
be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them”!


Proverbs 25:21-22- “If your enemies are hungry,
give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to
drink. 22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their
heads, and the Lord will reward you”.


Romans 12:14- “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do
not curse them”. 


NEXT WEEK, WE WILL CONTINUE WITH THE SERIES: THE SACRIFICE OF
LOVE: OUR LOVE FOR JESUS REQUIRES OBEDIENCE!


Next week read: John 14:15


3 $25 gift cards giveaway to Amazon, Walmart, Visa TUESDAY, MARCH
1!


REMEMBER MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS, IT TAKES GRACE TO MAKE
IT!


Remember my sisters and brothers, it takes GRACE TO MAKE
IT!