11/19/26

Day 19

 Love Your Enemies

Biblical Focus: The Sermon on the Plain

Luke 6:27–28 (NLT)

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

Of all the marks of transformation, this one is the most supernatural. Anyone can love their friends. Jesus says even sinners do that (v. 32). But loving an enemy is not natural. It requires a new nature.

Notice how Jesus begins: "to you who are willing to listen." This is May's posture of Listening, now tested. Many people hear this command. Few are willing to receive it. It is the command we find most reasons to set aside. They don't deserve it. They haven't apologized. You don't know what they did.

Jesus gives four specific actions. Love. Do good. Bless. Pray. These are not feelings. They are choices. You may not feel warmth toward the person who betrayed you. But you can pray for them by name. You can refuse to speak evil of them. You can do them good when the opportunity comes.

And here is the strange grace: when you begin to pray for your enemy, God begins to change your heart toward them. It is very hard to keep hating someone you are honestly praying for.

This is the mark that most clearly reveals Christ in you, because it is exactly what He did. From the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

The Practice of Transformation

Name the person who has hurt you most deeply. Every day for the rest of November, pray for God's blessing on that person by name. Not for their punishment. For their good.

✦ Reflection ✦

Who is the hardest person for you to bless?

Prayer: Jesus, You prayed for those who crucified You. Give me Your heart for my enemies. I choose to bless them. Amen.

It is hard to hate someone you are honestly praying for.

Help Choose Our 2027 Devotional

As this year of Wrapped in His Presence comes to a close, we're praying about where the Lord is leading us next, and I'd love your help deciding. There are three possible journeys for 2027:

• 
  Refined: The Refiner's Fire (Malachi 3:2–3)

• 
  Abiding Fruit: From Presence to Overflow (Galatians 5:22–23)

• 
  Wounded to Carry: The Ministry of Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:4)

Please pray over them, then vote here for the one that stirs your spirit.