When I first asked to write I wanted to talk about what the Lord has done in my marriage just a month into it, but I felt the Lord lead me to write about something else. As hard as it is to do, especially with everything that goes on nowadays, Jesus calls us to love and pray for 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, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”

Matthew 5:43-44

I can promise you I am not good at that. As much as I hate to admit it I’m the type of person to hold a grudge. In my line of work, there are a ton of different people, with a ton of different backgrounds and beliefs on how things should be done. This pretty much guarantees that at some point in the day, someone will annoy me. Now when that time comes it’s always my choice to forgive them and turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), or to treat them as an enemy. There are countless examples in the Bible of what acting this out, or the result of it looks like. The best example by far is in Luke 23. Jesus after being battered by the Romans, and mocked by the Jews hung there on the cross. He didn’t curse those people but instead said “Father forgive them, for they know not what they have done.” After everything Jesus went through, he still cared for their salvation. Still wanted the Lord to forgive their sins against him.

It isn’t easy loving the people who harm you, but everyone is a Child of God whether they acknowledge it or not. Our God is the type to leave the 99 to save the 1. We need to remember that the love we show to our enemies can have a massive effect or influence on their walk with the lord. Pray over your enemies, show them the love of God through your actions as Jesus calls us to do.