Podcast Summary

Podcast: Jesus the Healer w/ Nancy Dufresne Audio Podcast
Episode: 832 | In Christ I Can, Part 72
Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Nancy Dufresne (Dufresne Ministries)
Main Theme:
Nancy Dufresne explores what it truly means to live "in Christ," focusing on the distinction between human and divine love, maturing in faith, and how the believer is called to respond differently to adversity, particularly in how we treat those who oppose us.

Overview

This episode dives deeply into the scripture from Matthew 5:43–44, where Jesus teaches on loving one's enemies. Nancy unpacks the difference between human love (natural, reactive) and divine love (given at the new birth, proactive, unconditional), and emphasizes growing into the maturity God expects from believers. She also provides practical wisdom on walking in love while maintaining proper boundaries, especially in positions of authority.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power and Presence of God’s Love (00:10–03:00)

• Nancy opens by affirming that the power of God is present everywhere, ready to heal and bring change:

  "There's enough power in every sick room and in every hospital room to raise up that sick one... that power is there to do a work." (00:10)

• Encourages listeners to actively receive, not passively wait, for God's power and love.

2. Foundation: Who We Are in Christ (03:00–06:00)

• 65+ episode series on who believers are in Christ—beyond surface understanding.
• Our faith and responses must be rooted in our identity in Christ, not our natural selves.
• Key Principle:

  "To have the highest order of faith, learn who you are in Christ. Because when you know who you are in Christ, your struggle in the face of adversity is over." (04:30)

3. Jesus’ Radical Standard for Response (06:00–10:00)

• Nancy reads Matthew 5:43–44, noting Jesus sets a new standard:

  "'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.'" (08:52)

• Human nature wants to retaliate or withhold blessings from those who hurt us.
• Jesus isn't asking the impossible—He’s calling us to live from what He’s deposited within us:

  "The man outside of Christ can't do that, but the man in Christ can." (09:32)

4. Human vs. Divine Love (10:00–15:00)

• Human love is conditional and reactionary:

  "Human love will treat someone nice as long as it's treated nice. But human love will turn to hate in a moment... It will not surpass [the offense]." (11:30)

• Divine love, given at the new birth, is proactive and based on God's nature, not human behavior:

  "The love of God is in you. If you're born again, you don't have to pray, 'Oh, God, give me love for that person.'... We already have it." (13:05)
  "Human love is beneath us. Human love is no longer the flow that God will permit us to function in because he brought his own love and placed his love in us." (13:50)

5. Practical Application: Responding Out of Who’s In You (15:00–20:00)

• Our standard is Jesus in us, not the actions of others.
• Memorable Quote:

  "I'm not referring to them to find my response. I'm referring to who's in me to find my response." (14:42)

• Our responses shouldn't "equal the opposition" but match the grace and love within.

6. Maturity, Correction, and Authority (20:00–25:00)

• Maturing in Christ changes what God expects from us. Example:
  • Nancy recounts a personal story where she wanted to "confront" someone after being spoken about, felt the Spirit tell her not to, and learned:

    "Every verse in the Bible is not written to you... That verse was written for someone who took offense. I will not permit you to take offense because you have developed past that point." (22:30)

• Parental and leadership authority:

  "For me to walk in love with my child, I'm going to correct them, I'm going to discipline them, because that's what love does. Whom the Lord loves, he corrects." (20:45)

• Love is not permissive or passive regarding those under our authority.

7. Walking in Love with and Without Authority (25:00–27:00)

• With those in our realm of authority (children, staff), love requires correction and training.

• For those outside our authority, walking in love means not retaliating or insisting on our own way.

  "Whenever this perfect society of heaven tried to get out of order one day, Lucifer... tried to act apart from God's word... Love rose up and kicked out that which tried to violate him." (23:15)

• Quoting Jesus again:

  "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." (26:10)

• Only possible by drawing on the divine love inside, not by natural effort.

Notable Quotes

• On Divine Love v. Human Love:

  "Divine love operates this way. I walk in love with somebody not because of how they treat me, but because of... what's in me, regardless of what they do to me or against me." (12:40)

• On Maturity:

  "As we grow up spiritually, God expects more of us, and in Christ we're to meet that... He puts an expectation on maturity in our life." (21:38)

• On Authority:

  "Love is not permissive toward wrongdoing... Those who are under God's authority, he loves and he corrects and he trains. And that's the role of a parent. And that is walking in love." (24:20)

• On Living in Christ:

  "We did not get out all of this today in this episode. You're going to have to come back to future episodes... you're going to have to address this, because in Christ, you're going to respond differently to your enemies than you would outside of Christ." (26:50)

Important Timestamps

• 00:10 — The power of God is present everywhere
• 03:00 — Recap of the series’ goal: identity in Christ
• 08:52 — Reading & breakdown of Matthew 5:43-44
• 13:05 — The love of God is already in the believer
• 20:45 — Correction as an act of true love; parenting analogy
• 22:30 — Personal story of offense and the Holy Spirit’s correction
• 24:20 — Love, authority, and correction vs. passivity
• 26:50 — Living as one in Christ requires a new response to enemies

Conclusion

Nancy Dufresne urges listeners to recognize and act from the divine love deposited in them as believers. Moving beyond natural, reactive love, she teaches that true life in Christ means responding to adversity—and even mistreatment—from a place of godly love and authority, demonstrating the maturity God expects from His children. Correction, discipline, and boundaries are also acts of love within our realm of authority, while outside it, we’re called to embody Christ-likeness, not retaliation. Listeners are encouraged to meditate on these principles, as this is central to living the fullness of the Christian life.