“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44)
Today’s verse goes even further than the challenge we read yesterday: Jesus commands us not just to turn the other cheek when we are being offended, but to love our enemies. And these enemies are a serious threat: they might even “persecute you”. Jesus’ command is thus extremely radical. It seems impossible to love such people!
And yet, there are examples of believers who did exactly this. When Stephen was being stoned to death for Jesus’ sake, “he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (Acts 7:60). How in the world is that possible?
I think the explanation for this unnatural behavior is in Jesus’ following words: “… so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (verse 45). Christians are able to love their enemies because “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
Does Christ live in you? Do you experience His love? How does Jesus’ love change your attitude towards other people?