Loving Those Who Don’t Love Us

Nov 01, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Notes Become Prayers

The crumpled paper left at the church doors carried condemnation, but Jesus redirects venom into intercession. Praying for critics softens hearts – ours first, then theirs. Like Christ pleading “Father forgive them” from the cross, prayer disarms rage with divine perspective. Every harsh word becomes fuel for kneeling at the throne of grace. [06:21]

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
(Matthew 5:44, NIV)

Reflection: Who in your life needs prayers more than arguments? How might lifting their name daily shift your heart’s posture toward them?

Day 2: Chicken Biscuits for Critics

Love moves past words to inconvenient action – covering shifts, buying meals, meeting needs. The Proverb’s “burning coals” aren’t revenge, but the slow warmth of unexpected kindness melting icy hearts. Serving those who scorn us mirrors God’s rain on just and unjust alike, proving love isn’t earned but given. [22:33]

“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”
(Proverbs 25:21-22, NIV)

Reflection: What practical need could you meet this week for someone opposed to your faith? How does serving them differ from “fixing” them?

Day 3: Sunbeams on Scowling Faces

God’s morning light greets critics and saints equally – His love refuses discrimination. When we bless only those who bless us, we shrink God’s cosmic compassion to clubhouse rules. The church parking lot floods with the same rain that soaks the note-writer’s driveway, reminding us grace isn’t ours to ration. [14:55]

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
(Matthew 5:45, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you built “sun umbrellas” to shield blessings from certain people? What would radical impartial love look like today?

Day 4: Popcorn at the Gates of Hell

Handing snacks to schoolchildren who may despise the church embodies overcoming evil with good. Every act of service – food pantry visits, addiction recovery meetings – builds bridges where notes tried to burn them. Love doesn’t naively ignore darkness, but lights candles in its midst. [27:24]

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
(Romans 12:21, NIV)

Reflection: What “small candle” of kindness can you consistently light in a dark relationship? How does service disarm hostility better than debate?

Day 5: Stoning Turned to Intercession

Stephen’s dying prayer for his killers mirrors Christ’s relentless love. The note on the church door becomes a bookmark in our prayer journals, not a trophy of offense. Persecution is permission to love harder – every rejection an invitation to plant gospel seeds through stubborn compassion. [11:36]

“Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.”
(Acts 7:60, NIV)

Reflection: What ongoing hurt requires Stephen-like persistence in prayer? How does intercession transform victims into ambassadors?

Sermon Summary

Jesus commands a love that does not depend on being loved back. In Matthew 5, enemies are not excluded from compassion because they reject the truth, despise the church, or hurl insults. Their opposition is not permission for believers to get even or let their love grow cold. It is a call to love them more, with greater concern for their souls and a renewed willingness to share the gospel.

Prayer is the practical starting place. Jesus calls believers to pray for those who persecute them, asking for opened eyes, softened hearts, and forgiveness rather than harm. Prayer changes the person praying as well as the person being prayed for. Bitterness begins to loosen its grip when compassion takes its place. Christ’s prayer from the cross and Stephen’s prayer while being stoned show what this costly love looks like.

The Father’s sunshine and rain reveal why love cannot stop when it is unwanted. God continues giving good things to the righteous and the unrighteous. His children are called to reflect that kindness as the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus. The same compassion that reached believers is intended to reach their enemies too.

Proverbs 25 makes that love practical: a hungry enemy needs food, and a thirsty enemy needs water. The burning coals are not a way to get even. Kindness can become a channel for God’s conviction, making someone wonder why love has answered hatred. Even continued rejection does not make that kindness wasted.

Christian maturity becomes visible when believers sacrifice something of their own for someone who may never enter the church. A meal, a covered shift, or help through hardship can express grace without pressure or a lecture. The calling is steady: keep praying, keep loving, keep serving, and leave the opening of hearts in God’s hands.

Key Takeaways

1. Prayer Changes More Than the Enemy. Prayer for an enemy asks for that person’s good, not a religiously dressed-up version of revenge. It also brings the believer’s bitterness before God, where a hard heart can begin to soften. Christian maturity appears when concern for a person’s soul begins to outweigh the desire to dwell on the hurt. [08:11]
2. The Father’s Kindness Sets the Pattern. The sun rises and the rain falls on people who honor God and people who reject him. His children cannot make another person’s welcome or gratitude the condition of their kindness. As the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus, believers give a tangible expression of the compassion that first reached them. [13:33]
3. Burning Coals Are Not Personal Revenge. Feeding a hungry enemy is an act of care, not a clever way to cause pain. The surprising kindness may become a channel through which the Holy Spirit pricks a hardened heart. Even if the person still rejects that love, the believer has refused to let hatred take root and has shown something of Jesus. [23:05]
4. Steady Kindness Leaves Room for Conversation. Rejection of a conversation about faith need not end a relationship’s opportunities for grace. Covering a shift or providing a meal during illness can express genuine care without pressure, a lecture, or an argument about being right. Such love may continue for weeks, months, or years before another conversation becomes possible. [24:39]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:20] - A Condemning Note and a Loving Response
[02:29] - Jesus Commands Love for Enemies
[05:55] - Prayer as the Starting Place
[10:26] - Forgiveness in the Face of Persecution
[13:33] - Loving When Love Is Unwanted
[19:21] - Christ’s Love Refuses to Give Up
[21:09] - Serving Enemies and Burning Coals
[24:39] - Practical Kindness Without Pressure
[28:38] - Service as a Channel for God’s Work
[31:10] - Going the Extra Mile
[36:40] - God’s Love Made Visible
[37:25] - Prayer for Enemies and Open Hearts

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 5:43-48
“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, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” [02:50]

Proverbs 25:21-22
“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.” [22:10]

Luke 23:34
“Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” [10:56]

Observation questions

In Matthew 5:43–48, what contrasts does Jesus draw between loving only those who return love and loving as children of the Father?
What examples of the Father’s kindness does Jesus point to in Matthew 5:45, and who benefits from them? [14:14]
In Luke 23:34, what does Jesus ask the Father to do for those responsible for his suffering? How does that prayer answer the hostility directed toward him? [10:41]
What practical examples of caring for an enemy illustrate the instruction in Proverbs 25:21–22? What do those acts cost the person offering help? [24:39]

Interpretation questions

Why does Jesus connect love for enemies with being children of the Father in Matthew 5:45? What does a believer’s response to hostility reveal about whose character shapes that response? [13:51]
How is praying for an enemy’s good different from asking God to make that person regret causing hurt? How might sincere prayer change the person praying, even before the relationship changes? [08:11]
Why should the burning coals in Proverbs 25:22 not become a reason to use kindness as disguised revenge? What distinguishes genuine care from an attempt to make someone feel guilty? [23:05]
If an enemy continues to reject kindness, why is that kindness not wasted? How does Jesus’ command in Matthew 5 challenge the idea that love succeeds only when it receives a grateful response? [23:55]

Application questions

Is there someone whose criticism, rejection, or hostility has made it difficult for you to care about their good? Without sharing names or details you would rather keep private, what makes loving that person especially hard? [05:00]
When you pray about someone who has hurt you, what do you usually ask God to do? What might it look like this week to pray for their good while also asking God to soften your own heart? [08:32]
God’s kindness is not limited to people who welcome him. Where might you be making someone’s gratitude, agreement, or apology a condition of your kindness? [16:08]
Think of someone with whom your relationship is strained. What need could you reasonably help meet—a meal, a covered shift, or help through a hardship? What would that act of care cost you? [22:22]
If someone has shut down a conversation about faith, how could you continue showing genuine care without pressure or a lecture? What would help you respect their wishes while remaining open to a future conversation? [25:46]
When kindness seems to make no difference, what tempts you to withdraw it? How could this group encourage you to keep loving faithfully while leaving the opening of hearts in God’s hands? [29:19]

Sermon Clips

49s

#LoveYourEnemies

“We're never to let our love grow cold. We're never to let our love be only for those who will accept it, but also for those who won't, who don't. Our responsibility is to keep loving, to keep loving people who don't love us back, and to elevate the level of our compassion and concern, and I would say our evangelistic zeal at the same time. When someone shows that they don't love you, when somebody shows that they despise you, when someone shows that they hate you, then that should be your charge to love them even more, to douse them, to shower with them with love even more.”

33s

#PrayForYourEnemies

“Pray for the person who has hurled that insult at you. Pray for that person who has cut you off. Pray for... And and don't pray that they get a flat tire, but you're praying for them. You're you're you're praying for their eyes to open. You're praying for their hearts to soften. If we believe that prayer changes people, then what a great starting point to pray for that enemy in your life, for that person who's been working against you in your life. Amen?”

39s

#PrayerIsTheAnswer

“We're always so quick to fight, or some of us maybe to fight, to run away. Jesus told us to be quick to start praying. Start praying for the person. Start pleading for their soul. And this isn't optional for us. It isn't optional for the people who claim that they follow Jesus. They say, no, I'm not praying for that person. Jesus said that's what we're to do. When that person has wronged you, when that person has crossed you, you start praying for them. It's the first sign to show that we get it.”

27s

#ChooseCompassion

“It's hard to stay bitter about that person. It's it's it's hard to look at them with with red in your eyes when... Whenever you're praying for them compassionately. Perhaps the red in your eyes is because you're crying for them, you're weeping for them, because of your compassion for them that is so overwhelming. But Jesus says our starting point is to be praying for them. It doesn't matter what they've done.”

41s

#KindnessChangesEverything

“But it's not about me convicting them. It's about it's about having this godly conviction. It's not about me getting even. It's about them recognizing that even through their hatred, even through their opposition, whatever it is that they've done, you know what? You matter to me. Why would you do this for me after the way I've treated you? That's the burning coal part. The Holy Spirit using it to to prick their heart, get them thinking about love and kindness and mercy a little bit.”

45s

#PrayerChangesYou

“Prayer changes the person that's praying. That's you. That's me. And anytime that somebody lashes out against us or there's a... Or we we find ourselves in a in a difficult relationship with a person, if we start praying, you know, maybe maybe where the enemy we need to be praying, the the the feelings that are in us, praying that those enemies get released, saying, Lord, please soften my heart. Lord, please change my my mind in this. It changes me, but it can also change the other person too. We we put it in God's hands. We put the situation in God's hands, say, God, this is now yours.”

44s

#BeTheLight

“We're we're more... We're supposed to be more than just his hands, his feet. We're also his voice. That everything that we do, everything about us, we are the tangible expression of his love and his kindness and his compassion and his heart for the world. The same love that fell upon us also falls upon them. The same kindness of God that has fallen on our lives is also to fall on them. The same compassion that saved my my soul, that gave me a new direction in life, that gave you a new direction in life. It is the same compassion of God that is intended to fall on them too.”

43s

#GraceOverGrudges

“No pressure, no lecture, no I'm right, you're wrong. Just a steady, consistent act of kindness, a little here, a little there, until maybe they finally open up to you or ready to have a conversation with you. Not... It's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be challenging, and it might take weeks, months, maybe even a couple of years. But instead of you returning their cold shoulder with a cold shoulder, you return it with love and grace.”

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First Baptist Church of Mableton This sermon · AI assistant

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