Read Luke 6:12-36
“Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who insult you.” The list goes on—and the longer it gets, the more clearly we see what Jesus is truly asking of us. And with that clarity comes an honest realization of our failure. This calling feels hopeless, impossible, unreasonable, even unnatural (see Luke 18:27). And yet, it is the life Jesus calls His disciples to live.
So how can this be possible?
It becomes possible only through what Christ has done for us and what His Spirit now does within us. “The Spirit poured out in Baptism – the same Spirit that descended on Christ at his Baptism – will give the baptized the grace to do what Christ himself has done for them: to love even those who are enemies.”¹
This is the life-changing power of the gospel. Christ’s love for us does not merely forgive our failure to love; it transforms us. Through His Spirit, Christ reshapes our hearts and our lives, enabling us to live in ways that would otherwise be impossible.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, be at work in and through me that I might love others with the love of Christ. Amen.
¹A. Just, Luke 1:1-9:50 (St. Louis, Mo: Concordia Publishing House, 1996) 294.