This is a tangent thought from my last post...
Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
This got me thinking, is there a difference in the way we love our friends, versus the way we love our enemies? Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, precisely because everyone loves their friends, regardless of religious background. Jesus seemed to set up an alternate kingdom, a deeper understanding of love in general, that extends to those from whom we don't necessarily get any love in return... So it would seem more noble or true to say, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his enemies."... But that seems weird, and bottom-line, isn't what Jesus said.
I'm confused. Did Jesus make the statement simply because He was with the disciples, His friends? It makes sense that He was alluding to the Cross... which is ALSO trippy, because the Bible says, while we were yet sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us. THAT'S how deep His love extended to bring us back. He laid down His life for us as enemies... but as friends, too? Weird.
There's obviously a difference between the way we love our friends and the way we love our enemies. There just is. It doesn't take effort to love our friends; we are drawn to them, similar to them, and have things in common with them.
I guess my question, rooted in this confusion, is: which is greater, loving your friends or loving your enemies? And is there biblical grounds for the difference? Are we supposed to pursue a love that doesn't distinguish between friend or foe? Or is there a sweetness between friends that is rooted in God and deeper than the love that we are supposed to have for our enemies?
Any thoughts? Am I just over-thinking this?
I think you need to define love. Our word in English relies on context to denote what kind of love we are talking about, but the original language makes a distinction in the kinds of love. Yes, it may feel easier at most times to love our friends because we just plain like them, but is it really easy to love them? (Not trying to simplify your thoughts if you were going somewhere else with this!)
ReplyDeleteLove is "laying down your life" for them. Take a bullet for them. Let go of our own desires in order to meet their desires. Most people feel that way towards their friends (though the "opportunity" to actually live it out is rare), but would we take a bullet for the person who pisses us off continually or is ridiculously annoying and hard to get along with, let alone someone who abuses us? From that standpoint, I think it IS easier to love our friends. I agree, though, that it is important to define love - but I think Jesus kinda narrowed that down for us in this passage of scripture. Maybe "easier" is the wrong word?... Not sure...
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