Obstacle of Failing to Love our Enemies

At the heart of the gospel is a call to relate to our enemies in a spirit of love and mercy, out of an awareness of the great mercy and forgiveness that we ourselves have received from God: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:44, ESV). In this late hour, it is extremely important that we as the Body of Christ demonstrate to the world the same kind of love that God himself demonstrated for us on the cross “while we were enemies” (Rm 5:10). Failure to do so is to misrepresent the gospel, and is therefore a hindrance to it. Drawing from the challenges that he and his family have experienced while serving in the Middle East, in this session Matthew will work through various Scriptures that challenge us to show the love of Christ “still more and more” (Php 1:9)—even to our enemies.