“你们听见有话说：‘当爱你的邻舍，恨你的仇敌。’只是我告诉你们:要爱你的仇敌。为那逼迫你们的祷告。” – 太 5:43-44
耶稣这几句话会使我们觉得惊奇，甚至震惊。但事实上，谁是我们的仇敌呢？
在诗篇中，大卫王常常提到他的仇敌。他的敌人想要他死，要摧毁他的王国——就是那代表神国的王国。那些仇敌就是抗拒神在世上掌权的人。
现今如果我们跟随耶稣，我们大概不会遇到想杀害我们的人，但肯定会遇到一些希望见到教会和基督教信仰没落的人。有时一些政客也可被视为仇敌，因为他们试图以公然抗拒神命令的政策来代替一些我们国家现有的政策。虽然我们知道我们是天国的子民，但我们也是这世上一个国家的公民。所以任何想摧毁我们国家的人也可以被视为我们的敌人。
使徒保罗说：“恶要厌恶，善要亲近”（罗马书 12:9）。他没有说：“恶人要厌恶”，而是说要厌恶恶。即是说我们可以厌恶那些邪恶的法律、政策和行动，但我们仍被呼召去爱那些推动和做这些事的人。我们不应诽谤或咒诅他们，反而要为他们祷告。
祷告
主啊，求你帮助我们去爱仇敌。当我们在对抗这个世界的罪恶时，帮助我们记得，在我们还是罪人与你为敌时，你已经爱我们了。阿们。
马太福音 5:43–48
43“你们听见有话说：‘当爱你的邻舍，恨你的仇敌。’
44只是我告诉你们，要爱你们的仇敌，为那逼迫你们的祷告，
45这样就可以做你们天父的儿子，因为他叫日头照好人也照歹人，降雨给义人也给不义的人。
46你们若单爱那爱你们的人，有什么赏赐呢？就是税吏不也是这样行吗？
47你们若单请你弟兄的安，比人有什么长处呢？就是外邦人不也是这样行吗？
48所以你们要完全，像你们的天父完全一样。
Love Your Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…. ” – Matthew 5:43-44
These words of Jesus can surprise and even shock us. And who, exactly, are our enemies?
In the book of Psalms, King David spoke often of his enemies. David’s enemies wanted him physically dead. They wanted to destroy his kingdom—which was intended to represent the kingdom of God. Those enemies were people who opposed the rule of God in the world.
If we follow Christ today, we might not encounter people who want us physically dead, but we certainly can come into contact with people who would celebrate the end of the church and the end of the Christian faith. We might also think of politicians as enemies if they are working to replace some of our nation’s laws with measures that are openly against God’s Word. While we know that our citizenship is in heaven, we still live as residents of an earthly nation. Further, people who want to destroy our country may also be considered our enemies.
The apostle Paul says, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). He does not say, “Hate who is evil,” but what is evil. This means that while we may hate laws and policies and actions that are evil, we are still called to love people who promote and do such things. And we are not to slander or curse them but to pray for them.
Prayer
Lord, help us to love our enemies. As we work against sin in this world, help us to remember that you loved us even when we were your enemies, as sinners. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
