Love Without Limits
"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" – Matthew 5:44
When Jesus said these words, He was not just correcting a teaching. He was confronting a mindset. Over and over in the Sermon on the Mount, He started with the phrase, “You have heard that it was said,” because He was pushing back on the way Scripture had been twisted by the religious leaders of the day. In this case, they took the original command from Leviticus to love your neighbor and added their own spin, hate your enemy. That addition did not come from God. It came from their own prejudice.
The Pharisees had narrowed the definition of “neighbor” to only include people who looked like them, talked like them, and shared their background. If someone fell outside that box, they were excluded. A common saying among Jewish leaders at the time was that if a Gentile was drowning, you were not required to help. Why? Because in their eyes, that person was not your neighbor.
Jesus confronted that kind of thinking head-on. He said, “Love your enemies.” Not just love your friends, not just love your neighbor as you define it, but love even the ones you were taught to avoid. To Jesus, your neighbor is anyone in need, and your enemy is someone who needs your love the most.
This was a radical teaching. It still is. Everything in our flesh wants to hold a grudge. Everything in our culture justifies drawing lines, choosing sides, and canceling people who offend us. But Jesus does not let us off that easily. He says love them anyway. Pray for them. Treat them with kindness. Show them the grace that you have received.
This is not about agreeing with everything or trusting everyone. It is about letting love lead the way you live. It is about reflecting the love of Jesus in a world that desperately needs to see it. If you want to follow Him fully, you cannot put a limit on who deserves your love. Because He never put a limit on loving you.
When Jesus said these words, He was not just correcting a teaching. He was confronting a mindset. Over and over in the Sermon on the Mount, He started with the phrase, “You have heard that it was said,” because He was pushing back on the way Scripture had been twisted by the religious leaders of the day. In this case, they took the original command from Leviticus to love your neighbor and added their own spin, hate your enemy. That addition did not come from God. It came from their own prejudice.
The Pharisees had narrowed the definition of “neighbor” to only include people who looked like them, talked like them, and shared their background. If someone fell outside that box, they were excluded. A common saying among Jewish leaders at the time was that if a Gentile was drowning, you were not required to help. Why? Because in their eyes, that person was not your neighbor.
Jesus confronted that kind of thinking head-on. He said, “Love your enemies.” Not just love your friends, not just love your neighbor as you define it, but love even the ones you were taught to avoid. To Jesus, your neighbor is anyone in need, and your enemy is someone who needs your love the most.
This was a radical teaching. It still is. Everything in our flesh wants to hold a grudge. Everything in our culture justifies drawing lines, choosing sides, and canceling people who offend us. But Jesus does not let us off that easily. He says love them anyway. Pray for them. Treat them with kindness. Show them the grace that you have received.
This is not about agreeing with everything or trusting everyone. It is about letting love lead the way you live. It is about reflecting the love of Jesus in a world that desperately needs to see it. If you want to follow Him fully, you cannot put a limit on who deserves your love. Because He never put a limit on loving you.
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