I Hate That I Love You

0:00 Brace yourself and buckle up. You are about to hear a life-changing, history-making, world-defining message from the New Birth Podcast. Tell everybody you know, things will never be the same. I'm thankful. If you have your Bibles, would you join me in Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 5. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 5 You helping me already. Thank you. Keep that same energy. Thank you. Matthew chapter 5, verse 43 and 44.

0:56 Let's read it together with uplifted voices. You have heard that it was said. But I tell you, love your enemies. bless the Lord. Let's go back to verse 43. I want to read that again. Come on to everybody. You have heard that it was said. Verse 44. But I tell you, love your enemies. Bless the Lord. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Matthew 5, verse 43 and 44.

1:45 You've heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But Jesus said, I'm telling you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. I want to preach for a little while today using as a subject, I hate that I still love you.

2:13 don't turn to your neighbor just look straight ahead just I hate but I still love you One of the most crass and repulsive scriptures I've ever read is recorded in Proverbs 26 and 11, where it says, as a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to its folly. ladies and gentlemen i can't help but wonder if anybody ever interviewed the dog to ask why he went back I'm left to speculate that he was in disbelief how what came out of him didn't look like what went in him.

3:24 started off as t-bone steak and blueberries but the green slime had no resemblance. It had to be dizzying because it looked so good before he had it. and then once he had it, it made him sick. you ain't never been there it's almost like the person sitting two rows behind you who keep eating ice cream when they know they lactose intolerant. it doesn't make you feel good but you keep going back there are some people who are hard to love, but then there are other people, hear this, who are harmful to love.

4:47 the attraction to what you are allergic to is worthy of a case study i don't have benadryl but i do have a bible and i must warn you that today's word is not cherry flavored is laced in cod liver oil. and I want to open the bottle to Matthew 5 and 43 that says you have heard it said that you should love your neighbor and hate your enemies but I tell you to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you if you got any real friends, if you have any real friends, they would encourage you to stop loving somebody who is treating you poorly.

5:58 We would expect them to help you walk away and to do so expeditiously. And yet the Savior gives conflicting contrary information. And he insists, love your enemies and pray for the people who persecute you. The issue is that the admonishment makes you look foolish.

6:28 Everybody plays the fool sometimes. But nobody wants to be the sucker loving somebody who doesn't love you back right. and I want to divulge to you this morning that the core of the confusion is that we have an incorrect understanding of who the enemy is. When we see the word enemy, we envision the person who hates us the most and has done the worst to us. And yet Jesus says, love them.

7:15 Well, you need to understand when you find the original text of the word enemy is a Greek word that is translated ekthros. Ekthros. Which means somebody who is hostile towards you.

7:37 So someone with whom you have hostility is by this definition an enemy. Stay with me. The trap door is the fact that in this text, your enemies are not strangers. and 60 percent of those who prosecute you are not unknown to you you're not gonna like it hold on tight grip on to your chair a lot of the people who are hostile to you have spent holidays in your house it? your contention has more commonality with people you love than with people you hate i want you to think about it for just one moment your biggest conflicts are never with strangers we harbor the greatest negative emotions within those in our intimate space your mother your brother your adult child your soror your large brother your next door neighbor your co-worker and God is telling you love them you got one sibling that craves being the center of attention they the bride of every wedding they the baby of every baptism they the casket of every funeral and if they are not getting the attention they begin to lash out at everybody and here's the catch and you still love them you got a grown child that never checks on you but want you to drop everything when they got

9:50 any minor inconvenience y'all ain't gonna believe it and you still love them you know you should have not given them that money. Everybody told you not to do it, but you slipped it to them anyway, and they still haven't paid you back, and truth be told, they ain't got no intention on paying you back, and you still love them. You got children who are complaining, talking about what you ain't ever done for them, and they don't ever seem to remember all of the sacrifices you made just for them to have a roof over their head and clothes on their back and food on the table. Y'all ain't saying nothing. And you're still love them. You got a friend that will misrepresent your message, repeat your conversations, will smile in your face and all the while they want to take your place.

10:46 And you're still. Ladies and gentlemen, the people around you don't know the tug of war that you're in. That you keep loving somebody who you shouldn't. They've given you every red flag. They keep throwing a flag on the field. Your discernment and Holy Ghost keeps telling you to back that thing up. but you keep opening up your heart to people who don't deserve it y'all ain't saying nothing your problem is you love too hard and you forgive too easy people don't know