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WHO DO YOU LOVE?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Matthew 5:43-48

Who do you hate? Do you have any enemies? Frenemies? People that you really, really, REALLY do not like to be around, but you don't quite admit that you hate them? Is there someone actively working against you? Or perhaps someone who has caused you enormous personal distress? What about people who think wrong things? 

Jesus says we are supposed to love those people, with the same kind of love we reserve for our friends and family, actively seeking their best interests. Jesus is describing the highest standard of kingdom righteousness: love that mirrors God’s own character. It is easy to love our families, people we like, people who think like us, people with whom we have no conflict. But people who have wronged us?

And what about people who lie, steal and cheat? Or do really bad things, like kidnap, rape, and murder? What about terrorists? What about people who are trying to destroy America? Or killing Christians? They hate us. Surely, we do not have to love them.

Jesus dismantles this thinking. He commands active, costly love for enemies, including those who persecute believers. This is a pretty high moral standard; it was in ancient times, and it is today. In our fractured world, it is easy to assume that God is our protector, out to smite our enemies. But Jesus tells us to love everyone, even our enemies.

What does this love look like? It is not mere tolerance or warm feelings; it involves praying for persecutors (seeking their good and salvation), blessing those who curse, doing good to those who hate. Why? Because this reflects God’s impartial, generous love. God’s love does not operate on favoritism. Jesus points out that God causes the sun to rise on both the righteous and the unrighteous. In other words, God’s goodness is not limited only to those who deserve it. Loving only those who love us back is ordinary; everyone can do that. Kingdom citizens are called to exceed the ordinary, displaying an exceptional love that points to our divine Father.

Loving enemies does not mean pretending harm did not or does not happen, or allowing injustice to continue, or putting ourselves in dangerous situations. Instead, it means refusing to let hatred and fear shape our hearts. It means praying for those who hurt us, seeking their transformation rather than their destruction. It means not judging or discriminating, seeking understanding and looking for common ground with those with whom we disagree. This kind of love is not something we manufacture through willpower - it is something we must choose and tirelessly work toward. It grows as God reshapes our hearts.

Jesus ends with a call: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Only God can be perfect; however, the word “perfect” here means complete or whole. We can be complete and whole through God, aiming at the full measure of God’s character in love. God’s love is complete because it extends beyond comfort, beyond preference, and even beyond conflict. Jesus demonstrated this love on the cross when He prayed for those who crucified Him. Even though we cannot achieve sinless perfection in this life, Jesus still calls us to pursue undiscriminating, enemy-embracing love as evidence of being God’s children. Jesus modeled this perfectly by loving, praying for, and dying for us on the cross (Romans 5:8-10). Through His Spirit, we receive power to love beyond human limits, breaking cycles of hatred and testifying to God’s reconciling grace.

Loving Father,

Your love knows no bounds, and Your mercy is so much more than we understand. You give good things to those who hate You and to those who don't even believe in You. You love even those who resist You, and You call us to reflect that love.

Forgive us for limiting our love to the easy and likable, for harboring resentment toward enemies, or for failing to pray for those who hurt or persecute us. Thank You for Jesus, who loved us when we were still enemies and gave Himself for us. By Your Holy Spirit, expand our hearts to love as You love: actively, generously, without condition.

When we feel anger or resentment towards others, soften our hearts. Teach us to pray for those who hurt us and to desire their healing and transformation. Make our love more like Yours—wide, patient, and full of grace. Help us pray sincerely for those who hurt us and wrong us, to seek their good and to honestly desire their healing and transformation. May we reflect Your perfect character in our relationships, and may our lives display that we are truly Your children.

Amen.

Where do you withhold love? Do you say that people who have different religious or political views are stupid? Or even evil? Do you dehumanize others by calling them names, and justify your attitudes because they have wrong thinking? Or do you view people who break the law as less than? Jesus loves all those people. He loves illegal immigrants, terrorists, democrats, and republicans alike. He loves Muslims, Jews, and atheists. He even loves murderers, rapists, and child molesters. Everyone was created in His image, and it is His desire that all will be redeemed. As His kingdom citizens, we are His ambassadors for love.

Love is a choice. It is often a hard one, but it begins by simply choosing it. Today, think of someone who has hurt, frustrated, or opposed you. What does loving this person look like going forward? Spend five minutes praying for them, not for yourself. Pray specifically for their wellbeing, their peace, and their growth and healing. Ask God to bless them and guide them. Then pray for your heart to soften toward them, that you might see them as God sees them. End by thanking God for His common grace toward you when you were His enemy. You do not need to feel affection for this person. Simply bring them honestly before God and release your resentment into His care. Commit yourself to this one small act of love for a week and see how your heart changes.

The question for us is not whether we have enemies. The question is whether we will allow God to transform how we respond to them.