But I tell you, love your enemies... Matthew 5:44
It’s heart-warming, the way everyone in the football world has been queuing up to send messages of support to Sir Alex Ferguson. (In case football isn’t your thing, Ferguson is possibly the most successful manager in the history of the game, but a few days ago he was taken to hospital for urgent brain surgery.) Everyone is wishing him well, which of course is good.
But the striking thing is that many of those sending their good wishes have been serious enemies of Ferguson over many years. And I don’t think the word “enemies” is an over-statement: they have been more than merely “rivals”.
Like any walk of life, football can be pretty nasty: sporting rivalry can become bitter and personal, and things are said which should never be said.
It’s much the same with another legend of the football world, Arsene Wenger. He is just finishing after a long period as manager of Arsenal, and, like Ferguson, has generated hatred and animosity in many quarters. Yet on the occasion of his send-off, many of those enemies of yesterday are praising him to the skies.
It happens too in politics. Have you ever smiled a little cynically when, after a leading politician’s death, all their political foes come piling in to say what a wonderful person they were, and how great their achievements were?
This prompts a very simple thought: if we are prepared to be nice about somebody when they’re in trouble - or actually dead - why not be nice about them while they’re still alive?
Jesus told his disciples to love their enemies. “Love” is a strong, rich word: perhaps the greatest word there is in any language, for what ultimately matters more than love?
We’re so familiar with Jesus’ command that we fail to notice how revolutionary it is: he doesn’t tell us, for example, to tolerate our enemies, or to turn a blind eye to them, or to treat them with a stiff and dutiful courtesy: no, we are to love them. And that means, at the very least, wishing them well, doing them any practical good that may be possible, and certainly praying for (not just about!) them.
I don’t know if there’s anyone in your life who you might regard as an enemy. I hope not - but it’s always possible that somebody once did you a serious wrong or caused you real pain. Even if not, I’m sure there are people who, as we say, “I haven’t always seen eye to eye with”, people who “really get up my nose”. Yes?
Well, the time to act is now. Jesus didn’t tell us to love our enemies when we hear that something bad has happened to them, or when they are seriously ill, or even when they’re dead. No: love them; and love them now.
This may sound like a truly elevated spiritual thing to do. And perhaps it is. But it’s also very practical and down to earth. Think of it like this... If I harbour a grudge against someone or nurse hatred in my heart, I’m not (a) doing them any harm or (b) doing myself any good. The energy poured into that animosity is literally a waste of time - not to mention a poisoning of my own soul. What’s the point?
By the way, please don’t think I’m suggesting that the former enemies currently praising Alex Ferguson are insincere; I’m not saying they’re hypocrites - no doubt they mean what they say. I’m just saying how sad it is that their praises had to wait for something sad to happen.
The time for generosity of spirit - the time for loving our enemies - is... right now. Don’t leave it till it’s too late!
Lord Jesus Christ, please drain out of my heart every trace of anger, animosity, malice and hatred. Teach me to love even those who have hurt and wounded me, just as you have loved me. Amen.
It’s heart-warming, the way everyone in the football world has been queuing up to send messages of support to Sir Alex Ferguson. (In case football isn’t your thing, Ferguson is possibly the most successful manager in the history of the game, but a few days ago he was taken to hospital for urgent brain surgery.) Everyone is wishing him well, which of course is good.
But the striking thing is that many of those sending their good wishes have been serious enemies of Ferguson over many years. And I don’t think the word “enemies” is an over-statement: they have been more than merely “rivals”.
Like any walk of life, football can be pretty nasty: sporting rivalry can become bitter and personal, and things are said which should never be said.
It’s much the same with another legend of the football world, Arsene Wenger. He is just finishing after a long period as manager of Arsenal, and, like Ferguson, has generated hatred and animosity in many quarters. Yet on the occasion of his send-off, many of those enemies of yesterday are praising him to the skies.
It happens too in politics. Have you ever smiled a little cynically when, after a leading politician’s death, all their political foes come piling in to say what a wonderful person they were, and how great their achievements were?
This prompts a very simple thought: if we are prepared to be nice about somebody when they’re in trouble - or actually dead - why not be nice about them while they’re still alive?
Jesus told his disciples to love their enemies. “Love” is a strong, rich word: perhaps the greatest word there is in any language, for what ultimately matters more than love?
We’re so familiar with Jesus’ command that we fail to notice how revolutionary it is: he doesn’t tell us, for example, to tolerate our enemies, or to turn a blind eye to them, or to treat them with a stiff and dutiful courtesy: no, we are to love them. And that means, at the very least, wishing them well, doing them any practical good that may be possible, and certainly praying for (not just about!) them.
I don’t know if there’s anyone in your life who you might regard as an enemy. I hope not - but it’s always possible that somebody once did you a serious wrong or caused you real pain. Even if not, I’m sure there are people who, as we say, “I haven’t always seen eye to eye with”, people who “really get up my nose”. Yes?
Well, the time to act is now. Jesus didn’t tell us to love our enemies when we hear that something bad has happened to them, or when they are seriously ill, or even when they’re dead. No: love them; and love them now.
This may sound like a truly elevated spiritual thing to do. And perhaps it is. But it’s also very practical and down to earth. Think of it like this... If I harbour a grudge against someone or nurse hatred in my heart, I’m not (a) doing them any harm or (b) doing myself any good. The energy poured into that animosity is literally a waste of time - not to mention a poisoning of my own soul. What’s the point?
By the way, please don’t think I’m suggesting that the former enemies currently praising Alex Ferguson are insincere; I’m not saying they’re hypocrites - no doubt they mean what they say. I’m just saying how sad it is that their praises had to wait for something sad to happen.
The time for generosity of spirit - the time for loving our enemies - is... right now. Don’t leave it till it’s too late!
Lord Jesus Christ, please drain out of my heart every trace of anger, animosity, malice and hatred. Teach me to love even those who have hurt and wounded me, just as you have loved me. Amen.
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