God Running is a place for anyone who wants to love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
In our last post from Romans, we looked at the great hope we have as Jesus followers. If you’re interested you can read more here: 4 Reasons for the Enormous Hope We Have in Christ–Romans 8:29-39. In today’s post, we’ll look at the remarkable passion Paul had for the salvation of the unbelieving Jews, and where Paul’s love and passion came from.
Romans 9:1-3
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Unceasing Anguish
So Paul here is sharing how he anguishes in his heart over the unbelief of his own people, the Jews. He even wishes he could sacrifice himself for their salvation. He was so passionate about the salvation of the Jews, that he would not only die for them, but he would that he himself could be cut off from Christ, for them, so they could be connected with Jesus. After the Israelites worshiped the golden calf, Moses said something similar when he was pleading with God on their behalf. Moses said to God, “But now, if you will forgive their sin–but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” (Exodus 32:32)
Of course, that’s not the way it works. A mere mortal like Paul or Moses can’t trade himself for the eternal salvation of another or others. Only Jesus can do that.
But the amount of grace Paul was given, to feel so deeply for his fellow Jews that he wished he could lay down his eternal life for them, blows my mind. These people Paul desires to be saved are the same people who tried to stone him to death, and who lied about him, and who had him thrown into prison. Some even swore an oath that they wouldn’t eat until they killed Paul. And here we see how Paul cares about these people. It’s amazing. It’s an inspiring example of how Paul is closely following the teachings of Jesus. “Love your enemies,” Jesus said. Paul did that. (Matthew 5:44)
Where Does Paul’s Love Come From
In Matthew 5:44, after Jesus tells us to love our enemies, he goes on to say, “. . . and pray for those who persecute you . . .” (Matthew 5:44)
And that’s something we can notice about this passion of Paul’s. It’s manifested in prayer. In verse one of the next chapter in Romans, Paul writes: “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”
But I think prayer is even more than a manifestation of the love of Christ. I think praying for our enemies is connected to love for them in another way. I believe when we pray for our enemies, there’s a chance it will change our enemies and help our enemies and bless our enemies.
But, I believe that certainly, when I pray for my enemies, it will change me.
I think that a big part of why Paul was able to love the people who persecuted him was because Paul prayed for the people who persecuted him.
When I pray earnestly for my enemies, or even for the neighbor whose political views don’t align with mine, or for the guy at work who doesn’t play fair, or for the aunt who’s obnoxious at family gatherings, or for the politician who doesn’t behave well: it changes me. Praying for our enemies changes us.
Jesus did that. Jesus prayed for his enemies. When Jesus was on the cross he prayed, “Father forgive them . . .” (Luke 23:34)
And forgiveness of our enemies is in large part where this starts. When we forgive those who wrong us, we’re not just giving them free passes to harm us or others again. In the same way that praying for our enemies changes us first, and may have an effect on the one who harmed us if they’re open to it, forgiveness also firstly changes our own hearts. We are choosing to let go of what they did and give it over to God; giving the pain we carry from their wrongdoing away to the One who comes before us in rank. In other words, giving it forth to God — “for-giving”.
Forgiveness, then, is the choice that allows us to become the kind of person who can pray for his enemies. If I choose to hold on to hurt and wrongdoing, the only one who really gets hurt by it is me. My heart becomes darker, more focused on how bad it was that something was done to me, and how awful that person makes me feel. I turn in on myself. The choice to forgive allows me to let go and not let the wrong that was done to me get in the way of the fact that Jesus loves them, too. It positions my heart to desire the same thing Jesus does, and it puts me in a position where I can honestly pray for Him to work in their lives, and to be honestly glad for them if and when He does.
So forgiving and praying for our enemies is not only a way we can obey Jesus, it’s also a way we can be like Jesus.
And praying for our enemies is a way we can open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit’s flow of love for others.
Praying for our enemies opens us up to be filled with the love of Christ for our enemies.
“Oh Father have mercy on us, intervene in our lives and inspire us to pray for our enemies and those people we find to be difficult. Inspire us to love our enemies and do Your work in us to make us more into the likeness of Your Son Jesus. Help us. Change us. Intervene in our lives and do whatever is necessary to make each one of us a person who loves others, even our enemies.
“We ask this of You in Jesus’ name.
“Amen.”
Notes
Remember when Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him into the Samaritan village to make preparations, but the Samaritans didn’t receive them. And James and John said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” What did Jesus do? Jesus rebuked them. (Luke 9:51-56)
Image of desperate prayer by Matthieu Jarry — Creative Commons
The Love Like Jesus book
Available on Amazon, Google Play Books, and Audible!
Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)
In this heartfelt, Scripture-rich journey, Kurt Bennett invites you to study not just the words of Jesus, but His actions—His love, His mercy, His boundaries, and even His naps.
Honest. Practical. Deeply human.
Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:
- Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
- How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
- The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
- How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
- How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
- How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
- How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
- How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
- How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.
With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.
A life of loving like Jesus.
(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon, the ebook is now available on Google Play Books, and the audiobook is available on Audible.)
Now you can take Love Like Jesus with you wherever life happens.
We recently released the audiobook version, beautifully narrated by Jonathan St. John. And it’s available on the following platforms:
It’s also available on Amazon, Hoopla, Audiobooksnow, Chirp, Libro, Overdrive, and virtually everywhere audiobooks are offered.
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