Preaching last Sunday was awesome for me. I got to church excited because that morning, God had supernaturally confirmed to me that what I planned to share - how He loved and loves His enemies, and how we too should love our enemies - was from Him.

By the time I went to bed on Saturday, I had the sermon and Scripture references all figured out. When I woke up, the first thing I did was to read some of my cover to cover Bible chapters for the day. I was pleasantly shocked when two of those chapters, 1 Samuel chapters 24 & 26 talked about how David on two accounts spared the life of Saul, an enemy who was intent on killing him. With that, within my heart I heard the Lord say, "That is to confirm that the sermon you are to deliver today is from me. Those who hear it, including yourself, should take it very seriously; and add those passages of David sparing Saul to your teaching today." Hallelujah. Truly God speaks to us as we read the Bible.

Brothers and sisters, God in this season is telling us, "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you," (Matthew 5:44). When we were His enemies we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son (Romans 5:10). It is for that reason that God requires us to also be good to those who do not like us and treat us badly. That to me is a tall order. Yet God knows we can do it because His enabling grace to love our enemies has been deposited within us; "of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16).

The worst enemy you can have is one who wants you dead. And yet, even while on the cross, having been crucified by His enemies, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Later, when His faithful witness Stephen was being stoned to death, just before he died, he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7:60). David was relentlessly pursued by Saul, to kill him. Yet when grand moments occasioned themselves, David chose to not kill his enemy.

Do you have an enemy plotting to kill you? For almost all of us, the answer is no. That being true, we can therefore love our petty haters. If Jesus could ask God to forgive His murderers, then you and I can love those who only wish us evil. If Stephen did not wish God to charge those stoning him to death with that sin, then we can surely bless those who only curse us, and we can also pray good prayers for them.

Repay no one evil for evil, overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17, 21). That was how David dealt with Saul his enemy, and that is how we should respond to our tormentors. By the way, there is a reward attached to all this, because it is written, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lord will reward you (Proverbs 25:21,22).

God bless you.

PS: Kindly forward this message to Pastor Moses B. Musinguzi. The chap needs it.