"My commandment is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors."

Mt. 5:44

Who are your enemies? Who haven’t you forgiven? Who is it that you could really care less about, have shut out, or maybe you wish them some kind of ill fortune because that they have somehow hurt you? Whoever these people might be, Jesus commands us to love and pray for them.

If someone says they do not need God in their lives, direct them to Matthew 5:44. We need the power of the cross in order to love and pray for our enemies. Jesus is both our model and power to do so as he forgives the enemies who took his very life through an utterly painful crucifixion on the cross. The infinite power flowing from the cross of Jesus Christ is the only power that will allow us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. Knowing that we need his power in all our relationships, without the mercy of Jesus we would all cease to love and pray for each other because we are all sinners and need to forgive and be forgiven.

In our relationships with each other we must always distinguish the sinner from the sin. We must love the sinner but hate the sin. Jesus loves us sinners but he hates the sin in our lives. He came to earth to put an end to the sin which causes people to turn into enemies. We believe that love has conquered sin because we believe that Jesus rose from the dead. So, in the model and power of Jesus, we want love to win by enemies becoming friends. The way that enemies become friends is through forgiveness and elimination of sin.

Have you thrown out the sinner with the sin? We cannot throw out the sinner. Jesus did not throw out sinners. He came for sinners. He loves and prays for sinners. He welcomes and eats with sinners. He eternally extends an invitation to sinners to enjoy an intimate relationship with him. He does, however, cast the sin as far as the east is from the west.

Does that describe you? Do you reach out to your enemies? Do you love and pray for them? Do you try to love your enemies and eat meals with them? Do you offer them the intimacy of love and forgiveness? Do you want to throw sin as far away as you can?

Will you love and pray for your enemies as Jesus did?

Put your enemies at the top of your daily (maybe even secondly!) prayer list and pray that they might be filled with the fullness of life in Christ. And remember, prayer does not change Jesus- it changes us.

God’s will!
+Fr. John