Daily Faith Walk

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. — Matthew 5:44, NIV What does the Bible actually say about loving people who are hard to love? Short answer. Yes, and it's not optional. Jesus commands love for enemies and difficult people in Matthew 5:44, and he backs it with his own example on the cross (Luke 23:34). But biblical love here isn't fondness or feeling, it's agape, a decision to seek someone's good regardless of what they've earned. Paul describes what that decision looks like in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: patient, kind, not keeping score. Loving a difficult person doesn't require liking them, trusting them, or staying unprotected in their path. It does require refusing to return cruelty for cruelty and choosing, again and again, not to let their behavior determine yours. Jesus Named This Exact Problem The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus correcting the popular theology of his day. "You have heard that it was said, love your ...

What is agape love in the Bible, and why does it matter? Short answer. Agape is the New Testament's word for a love that is chosen, not felt first, a settled commitment to seek someone's good whether or not they deserve it or return it. It's the word John uses in John 3:16 for the love that sent Christ to the cross, and the word Paul uses to describe love's character in 1 Corinthians 13. Unlike phileo (affection between friends) or storge (family loyalty), agape doesn't wait to be earned. Romans 5:8 says God showed it to us 'while we were still sinners.' Scripture calls it God's greatest gift because it isn't a feeling you manufacture, it flows from God into us, then out from us toward others, including people we don't particularly like. It starts with God, not with us The Bible is careful never to make agape love primarily about our capacity to love well. It starts on the other side of the relationship, with God. Romans 5:8 puts it plainly: ...