LOVE THAT BREAKS THE CYCLE SUNDAY SERMON, FEBRUARY 8, 2026
ATTRIBUTION STATEMENT FOR THE SERMON
Before I begin, I want to name something important.
In honor of Black History Month, today’s sermon is intentionally inspired by the Christian witness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., particularly his sermon “Loving Your Enemies,” first preached in 1957 while he was pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
Dr. King delivered that message in the early years of the Civil Rights Movement—during a season of bomb threats, arrests, and violent resistance—yet he rooted his response not in bitterness or retaliation, but in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
What you will hear this morning is not a reproduction of his sermon, and I have not used his language or structure. Rather, I have sought to wrestle with the same Scriptures, the same command of Christ, and the same moral challenge—allowing his faithfulness to sharpen my own as we listen together for the Word of God.
LOVE THAT BREAKS THE CYCLE
Scripture Readings:
Matthew 5:43-48
Romans 12:9-21
Proverbs 20:22
Luke 10:33-35
1 Peter 2:21-23
Some words of Jesus are comforting the moment we hear them. Others sit with us like a stone in the shoe—refusing to be ignored. Love your enemies belongs to that second category.
We admire it.
We quote it.
But when it presses into our actual relationships—our grudges, our wounds, our memories—it feels unreasonable.
And yet Jesus does not soften the command. He says plainly that the children of God are recognized by a love that exceeds what comes naturally (Matthew 5:44-45). Even sinners, He says, love those who love them back. But the Kingdom of God introduces a different measure, a higher righteousness, a love that refuses to be trapped by retaliation.
This teaching does not float above reality. It confronts reality head-on.
THE OLD PATTERN: EVIL FOR EVIL
From the earliest pages of Scripture, humanity wrestles with the desire to answer injury with injury. Proverbs names the temptation clearly: Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait on the Lord, and He will save you (Proverbs 20:22).
Paul echoes this wisdom when he urges the Church not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Notice the language: evil is not ignored, excused, or minimized—it is confronted, but with a weapon it does not understand.
Retaliation feels powerful, but it chains us to the very thing we oppose. Hatred always asks for one more payment. One more insult. One more strike. And it never settles the account.
Jesus steps into this ancient cycle and says, It ends with Me.
ENEMY-LOVE IS NOT PASSIVITY
We must be clear about what Jesus is not saying. Loving your enemy does not mean surrendering moral clarity. It does not mean calling injustice by another name. Scripture consistently affirms the pursuit of justice, the protection of the vulnerable, and the exposure of wrongdoing.
But enemy-love changes how we pursue those things.
Jesus Himself confronted hypocrisy, overturned tables, and spoke hard truth to power—yet He never allowed hatred to take root in His heart. Peter reminds us that when Jesus was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but entrusted Himself to God who judges justly (1 Peter 2:21-23).
That is not weakness. That is moral strength under control.
SEEING THE IMAGE OF GOD
One of the greatest dangers we face is the temptation to strip our enemies of their humanity. It becomes easier to hate when we reduce a person to a position, a vote, a slogan, or a stereotype.
But God will not permit this shortcut. Even the broken, even the cruel, even the wrongdoer remains a bearer of God’s image. That image may be distorted—but it is not erased.
Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that love is not defined by boundaries of tribe or comfort (Luke 10:33-35). The neighbor is not chosen by proximity or preference. The neighbor is the one before us—even when that reality unsettles us.
Enemy-love insists that no one is disposable in the economy of God.
THE CROSS: LOVE AT FULL COST
All of this teaching finds its center at the cross. There, Jesus absorbs violence without becoming violent. He exposes evil without imitating it. And in the very moment when hatred seems victorious, He prays for forgiveness (Luke 23:34).
This is the Gospel’s great reversal: love does not merely endure suffering—it transforms it.
When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, He is inviting us into His own way of life. A way that refuses to let sin win. A way that trusts God to do the judging while we do the loving (Romans 12:19).
A WORD TO THE CHURCH
The Church must decide whether it will mirror the world’s anger or embody Christ’s love. We are surrounded by voices that profit from outrage, division, and fear. But the Church was never meant to be a reflection of the culture’s rage. We are meant to be a sign of God’s Kingdom.
To bless those who curse us.
To pray for those who oppose us.
To speak truth without surrendering love.
This kind of love does not ask whether it is easy. It asks whether it is faithful.
PRACTICING ENEMY-LOVE
Enemy-love begins in prayer—often before it reaches behavior. We may not feel affection, but we can choose faithfulness. We can refuse to speak with contempt. We can resist the urge to rejoice when an enemy falls. We can entrust justice to God and keep our hearts free.
Jesus does not ask us to feel something we cannot feel. He asks us to follow Him where He has already gone.
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
You loved us when we were far from You and made peace by Your cross.
Free us from the grip of bitterness and the poison of revenge.
Teach us to love as You love—truthful, courageous, and unafraid.
Make us a people who overcome evil with good,
for the glory of God and the healing of the world.
Amen.
BDD
