Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:44-48)

This is a series of Prophetic Nuggets from “Daily Downloads from Heaven” by Meghan Williams that are connected by scripture / theme. It is a series of six Prophetic Nuggets based on a portion of Matthew 5.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

The first Prophetic Nugget is called “Hard Choices.”

Matthew 5:44 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies…

Beloved, if you choose to walk with Me, the path isn’t always easy. However, it is beautiful – sometimes poignantly so. Making the hard choices and dying to your flesh are key parts of the journey. How can you love someone who is your enemy? Seek to understand them. Seek to understand what motivates them. Strive to remember who they are to Me – My creation. 

You can love someone without agreeing with them. You can be “for” someone without agreeing with all their choices. Loving your enemies, beloved, is about wanting My best for them – even if you don’t think they deserve it, because you realize what they should or should not have isn’t your judgment call to make. So you choose to trust Me and yield to My perfect wisdom.

The second Prophetic Nugget is called “Choose Wisely What Your Character Reflects.”

Matthew 5:44-45 (VOICE) …Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven…

Beloved, when someone wrongs you, you do not have to return it in kind. Instead of stooping to their negative behavior, respond with a heart that reflects Me. One filled with compassion and mercy. For any ill they’ve done or said against you is a greater reflection of them and their character than it is of yours.

Choose wisely what you want your character to reflect. If you want to reflect Me, respond to those who wrong you with forgiveness (even if they haven’t asked) and love (even if they don’t want it). For in reflecting godly behavior, you bless and honor Me, so let that be enough encouragement and resist the urge to rely on any human response.

The third Prophetic Nugget is called “Love Unconditionally with Abandon.”

Matthew 5:45 (VOICE) in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner.

Beloved, I do not pick and choose which of you are worth loving. I deem you all worthy of love. I don’t withhold sunshine from one while I pour it out on another. I’m not fickle or changing. I AM steadfast and true. 

If you desire to be like Me, you too must be steadfast. You too must love liberally – refusing to withhold it on a whim or as a punishment. To be like Me, requires true sacrificial love.  It requires knowing that even as you choose to die to your fleshly responses, often no one will see or know but Me – and yet that is sufficient. So love unconditionally with abandon, and do so with no desire for recognition knowing My approval is all you need.

The fourth Prophetic Nugget is called “Sacrificial Love.”

Matthew 5:46 (VOICE) It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him.

Beloved, it is good to love well those you already love. For all of us have moments where we are unloveable. So be reminded to persist in love regardless of how prickly someone you care about is being. Remember there are moments you yourself will need that same grace extended to you.

However, if the extent of your sacrificial love is only to those you already care about, you are falling short of the mark. Where the real challenge begins is in loving those who you don’t like and don’t agree with, even ones who have been hostile to you. There is the true challenge. People are prone to segregating into safe little groupings where everyone has shared belief sets. This feels safe. 

However, true unity is accomplished when you are intentional to move beyond your safe place and allow yourself to be challenged. Choose to love those you may not like, and choose to seek peace with those you don’t agree with. That kind of love – that kind of harmony, reflects My heart and honors Me.

The fifth Prophetic Nugget is called “Share Your Light with All.”

Matthew 5:47 (VOICE) And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that!

Beloved, as you encounter people throughout your day that you don’t know, resist the urge to be “too busy” to engage. At the store, buying coffee, as you interact online – everywhere you go, you encounter people unknown to you but loved by Me.

You are called to be My light, My vessel – one who reflects My countenance, and that shouldn’t be something you turn on and off. I’m not saying never rest – for I strongly support moments of pause, but I mean don’t be so busy and distracted that you miss people I have placed in your path. Be aware, listen to My Spirit’s prompting, and shine unhindered – sharing your light with all.

The sixth Prophetic Nugget is called “Saturated in Me.”

Matthew 5:48 (VOICE) But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Beloved, I have called you to be perfect – complete and wanting nothing. This can only be achieved by being saturated in Me. For you cannot pour out the love of God without being filled with the love of God. So abide with Me and be filled that you might share from your overflow.

When you are overflowing with the joy of My Spirit, it is contagious and blesses all those you encounter. So drink deeply from the waters of My presence and be abundantly satisfied that you might share with many more.