Luke 6:35, commentary and pictures

Love your enemies and do them good, bless and pray for those who persecute you, and lend to meet need without hoping for repayment.
God Himself is kind to the unthankful and to the evil, pouring blessing on good and bad alike by giving sun and rain to all.
Those who so love and give will have a great reward and will be the children of the Highest, known not by rank or privilege but by a love that embraces all humanity.
As children of the Highest they are to reflect and imitate His character, being merciful as the Father is merciful and perfect as the Father is perfect, tender, compassionate and constantly serving as Christ was among men.
That love is a living, controlling influence that must reach beyond a few favored or deserving friends to the erring and undeserving, doing good disinterestedly even when thanks and appreciation are withheld.

God's Kindness and Command

God is kind to the unthankful and to the evil, pouring out blessings on all people, both good and bad. That kindness is seen in His giving sun and rain to all, making the sun rise on the evil and on the good and sending rain on the just and on the unjust. His kindness reveals His character as unfailing in mercy and love, tender, compassionate, sympathetic, considerate of others, and constantly engaged in service, fully displayed in the sinless life of Christ lived among men. He stoops to lift sinners up, delights to show mercy, and treats people better than they deserve.

The verse commands love for enemies, doing good, blessing and praying for persecutors, and lending hoping for nothing again. Lending without expecting repayment means giving generously enough to meet the need as a gift rather than an ordinary loan, and it does not require giving indiscriminately to everyone who asks for charity. Those who so love, do good, and lend receive a great reward and become the children of the Highest. They are recognized not by rank, birth, nationality, or religious privilege but by love that embraces all humanity and reveals their heavenly standing.

Living as Children of Highest

To be children of the Highest is to reflect and imitate the divine character, representing divine goodness and mercy with patience and forbearance toward others. It means being merciful as the Father is merciful and perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect, becoming like God in character and standing without fault before men and angels. This imitation is shown by loving enemies, doing good, and lending without expecting repayment, even to those who oppose, hate, or curse. Such kindness treats others better than they deserve, after the pattern of God who delights to show mercy.

That loving-kindness expresses the principles of God's law and is a wellspring and source of life. It appears in kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness toward one another. The love required is a living, acting, controlling influence that brings human actions into conformity to the will of Christ and sanctifies the affections. It is exercised after the pattern of Christ's life, not by merely professing to keep God's commandments without practicing them from the heart, and only the Spirit of God gives such love in return for hatred.

Love and kindness must not be confined to a few favored, congenial, or seemingly deserving people but must extend to everyone, including the erring, the needy who seem undeserving, and those least likely to return affection. Mercy received is to be passed on, for love lavish toward a few but cold toward others in need is not Christlike. Doing good must be disinterested, without limiting kindness to those who appreciate, respond to, or thank for it. It means laboring to help others and be a blessing even when prejudice and unbelief question motives, without letting that difficulty hinder continued effort to do all that can be done.

True obedience is a wise and merciful piety that is not straitened, bigoted, hard, or exacting, but does good to the fallen, uplifts fellow men, and restores their God-given nobility while beholding Christ and being changed into His likeness. It cures unprofitable conversation, backbiting, false accusing, evil thinking, suspicion, making another an offender for a misconstrued word, and burdening associates with evil thoughts, replacing them with encouraging, pleasant, and agreeable words spoken with particular care. It also keeps from speaking evil of those God is using when spiritual discernment is beclouded by misrepresentation. Acting as sons and daughters of the Most High means walking humbly with God, doing the works of Christ, and bringing forth much fruit unto righteousness in the humility of Christ.

It requires not becoming extremists, doing nothing that grieves the Spirit, and offering no fitful service that God cannot glorify. It requires keeping the soul guarded so as not to appear in the worst light before unbelievers or carry matters to extremes that bring lasting reproach on the cause of God. Kindness so shown may move those not wholly closed to God's Spirit to respond with love.