“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28)

     We think of the golden rule, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you,” (Matthew 7:12) which is a fine rule to live by, but in this scripture passage, Jesus describes the lengths Christians should go in loving their “enemies.” Not only are we to treat others the way we want to be treated, but we must treat others the way God has treated us.  Knowing that God has treated us so well, loving us despite our shortcomings, we can seriously look at how we can be moved to love those who don’t love us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, when I consider how much you love me, you make it easier to understand what you are asking of me.  Remind me to love and pray for those who don’t see eye-to-eye with me, because we all need to love one another and to live by the example that you have set.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.