“…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” – Matthew 5:44-45
Who is the person that comes to mind when you read this Scripture passage? Just who are your enemies? You may have a person that comes to mind, such as someone who bullied you in school or someone who treated you unfairly at work. Perhaps it is someone who mocked you, stole something from you, or hurt you in some way.
You might not have a true “enemy,” but there probably are groups of people you might consider enemies. People who have different religious or political beliefs or ideologies. People who have committed crimes against us or our communities. People that we consider wrong or wicked. It’s okay to bring that person or group to people in mind in order to do the next step that Jesus asks of us. So take a moment now to consider, “Who are my enemies?”
Whoever those people are, those are the people Jesus is calling us to love and pray for. Yes, those people. It might be difficult, but this is what Jesus meant when He said, “For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?” (Matthew 5:46-47).
Jesus has called us to an unusual kind of love. A love that is perfect like God’s love is perfect. This is part of what it means to be set apart. We are to be unusual: over-the-top kind, crazy-forgiving, super-stupendously merciful. To be truly Christian, we must not settle for loving as the world loves. We must love like Christ loves.
To get started loving an enemy, it might help to pick a specific prayer for that person or group of people and offer it to the Lord daily. Just one prayer once a day.
Jesus, help me to love my enemies. Give me the strength and humility to pray for someone who has persecuted me.