Loving Our Enemies 

   “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, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.’” (Matt 5: 43 – 45) 

   It's sometimes difficult to love even our neighbors, but we are to love our enemies also.  That’s a lot to ask of people who are stained by sin and, by and large, selfish as well.  Yet, that is what Jesus tells us we must do.

   But who is my enemy?  There is no one persecuting me or mistreating me or threatening me.  So, who is the enemy I am to love? 

   What about those whose intent is to destroy any semblance of morality in our society, are they my enemy?  In many ways I see them as such since they are so against everything I believe in.  Are these, then, the enemies I must love?  I think the answer is yes.  No matter how misguided I may think they may be, I am not the judge, God is.  My place is to see Christ within them and love them.

   It's easy to see those who seem to hate God and His truth as enemies and even easier to condemn them though I have no right to condemn anyone.  It’s much harder to see them as God’s children who have taken the wrong path, yet that is what they are.  Even though I might call them my enemies, they are who I am to love and pray for.

   If I am honest, I must admit that loving my enemies is very difficult and I often fail in those efforts.  But with the help of God, I pray that I can do better.