The second part of our Quick Study of Matthew 5. Agape love is not emotion, it’s action for another. Enjoy.
Please read Matthew 5:43-47
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, [n]love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him]. 46 For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that?
Footnotes
[n] Matthew 5:44 The key to understanding this and other statements about love is to know that this love (the Greek word agape) is not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for another.
Jesus leaves no room for an us and them mindset.
The footnote will explain what it means to love our enemies. Because love is an action, not a feeling. While it doesn’t require feeling it, that doesn’t make it easier. Just more possible. When’s the last time you did something for someone else’s benefit? That’s agape.
Believe it. Live it. Walk it out.