But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
Luke 6:27

Loving your enemies does not make you weak. Loving your enemies is a reflection of Christ’s heart living within you. It is a reflection of Christ’s strength. Your being will always be weak;
however, in Christ, you can be made strong. Loving your enemies is probably one of the hardest things to do as humans that are battling our flesh the majority of each day. We are tempted to lash out when we feel mistreated, yet Christ wants us to practice self-control. In today’s society, people pride themselves on not backing down, on speaking their mind, and on being the person that you don’t want to mess with. They create an illusion of being strong, when in all actuality not having self-control is a sign of extreme weakness. Loving our enemies shows the true strength of Christ that He has placed within His servants. It is a true reflection of God’s universal love. When we are truly serving Christ his love should exude from our very being. Loving our kids – that’s simple. Loving our best friends, simple. Loving people that do kind things for us, effortless. Loving someone that we deem mean, arrogant, or hateful, that feat seems insurmountable. Matthew 19:26 speaks so much truth. Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” To serve God means striving to be like Him in all aspects of our life, which means loving people we may not want to love. The only way to accomplish this is a daily walk with God in which we sincerely seek to serve with our whole heart. Without God, loving our enemies will always be impossible. With God, broken people can see the hope and restoration that Christ brings. Don’t treat someone poorly because they treat you poorly. Treat them great because that’s what Jesus would do. Treat them exceptional because there is obviously an underlying issue deep in their soul that needs nourishing from Jesus. Be the person that Jesus uses to nourish them. They need to see God’s love more than anything else. Serve God in love by loving others that are hard to love.

God, help me to love those that are hard to love. Take over my heart and use me to show your love to those in need. It is so easy to love the lovable, but help me love the unlovable. Help me be love. Amen.