Not A Suggestion by Anonymous
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)
Love my enemies? Pray for them? Like the Jews of Jesus day, this command from Jesus is a tall order for even the most Christian of Christians. But Jesus didn’t just suggest that we love our enemies, He demanded it because He knew it was exactly what His followers needed to do for their spiritual and emotional well-being. Hating takes a tremendous amount of energy – energy that could otherwise be devoted to following Him, to loving God and our neighbor. Hating doesn’t feel very good either – it makes us bitter and angry and weak. It pushes us away from the ultimate Source of love from which we get our strength. But loving someone, even someone we don’t like very much? That just gets easier and easier as God fills our hearts and provides an endless supply of love to share.
And in making what may seem like a monumental effort to love our enemies, we let Jesus shine through us. Jesus pushes out the darkness and shines a very bright light on the path to true Kingdom life for us and for world around us.
Lord God, without the power of the Holy Spirit we can not love our enemies, but You make all things possible to reveal and glorify Christ in us. Amen