Loving your Enemy

Matthew 5:43-44

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

The first step to love our enemies is to pray for them. Jesus said, ‘pray for those who persecute you.’ If we pray for our enemies, something mysterious happens inside us. It is like pouring icy cold water to your sizzling emotions. When we continue to pray goodness for our enemies everyday, one day you’ll realize that your anger has gone. And once we have removed our anger, we can start doing good things for them such as:

• Forgiving and forgetting about their sins against us. Forgiveness is an act of the will of the heart. And Christian forgiveness means that when we forgive, we also forget. Love keeps no record of wrongs.
• Reaching out to them. We do not just forgive our enemies, we also take steps to be closer to them. Real forgiveness demands restoration of relationship. Just like how God has forgiven us and restored our relationship with Him.
• Trusting them again. This could be the hardest part but we must know that trust is an essential element of love. An enemy that we’ll continue to distrust will always remain an enemy but when we trust them, they may even be our friends.

We should learn how to forgive, reach out and trust our enemies. This commandment of Jesus is actually the secret to make peace reign in the world. Have a peaceful and loving heart! 

(Credits: Joey Umali's Unli Rice Vol. 3)