Setting Up Our Brain to Love Our Enemies

Matthew 5:43-48 (Same scripture as yesterday, this time in the Message translation)

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

Yesterday, we talked about Jesus naming our normal condition of loving when we are loved and hating when we are hated.  We even have a part of our brain that reinforces that.  But Jesus calls us to live out of another part of our brain, the frontal lobe.  The frontal lobe is where all our highest brain functions take place – reasoning, planning, language, and others. It is the part of the brain that distinguishes us from animals.  Thus, it is the part of brain given to us by God that makes us a little lower than the angels.” (Hebrews 2:7).  It is the only part of the brain that is capable making the decision to love those who don’t love us. 

Our problem is that the frontal lobe functions best when the other parts of the brain are satisfied.  The amygdala must be dormant so that it is not triggering us into fight or flight. The limbic system (the middle part of our brain that houses our emotions) must have a sense of wellbeing.  This is achieved mostly by sense of belonging, that knowing feeling that we are part of a tribe.  In short, when we are safe and we know we belong, our frontal lobe has the best chance of engaging. 

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus gives us safety and a tribe. This frees us to engage our frontal lobe, to “grow up” as Peterson’s translation says above.  We can choose to love our enemies because has made us forever safe and given us an eternal place of belonging.  God loved us while we were acting like God’s enemies and he adopted us into his family though we didn’t deserve it.  God did it so that we would join him in doing the same.  This is what it means to “live out your God-created identity.”

Question:  Think about a time that you felt capable of loving someone who wasn’t loving you.  Were you safe and aware of your place in your “tribe?” What helped you feel safe and connected?

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who are truly alone in the world

Song: Connection – One Republic