Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Matthew 5:43-45 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:43-45 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Easier said than done. :blink: How can we truly "love our enemies?"
First...notice the difference in....love thy neighbors as thyself. A neighbour is someone close by, a countryman. What or who are our enemies for those we aren't told to love as thyself. Our enemies are those that are...."Hateful, hostile, an adversary, enemy, foe...especially Satan."
Our Father tells us through John, an elder/apostle, as He addresses "the elect lady," who is the church/Israel.
11 John 1:4-5 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
THIS IS LOVE....That says a great deal. As we are to love even our enemies....we do that by following His commandments. Does that mean we must love them as in really, really, really liking a person? NO....we are to treat others by His commandments...that is the love we are to show.