In today's society, I don't know how many actual "enemies" we have on a day to day basis. I know that I don't walk around in fear of being attacked by someone or a differing people group, but there are certainly people I don't like very much. It's almost like a confession here: "Hi, I'm Paige and I don't love everyone." But before you judge me for that, think about it. Isn't there someone out there who you see on social media or pass in the hallway or see at work who you just would rather not have to interact with? We all have those people in our lives whether or not we care to admit it.
I was reading in Matthew 5 recently and came across the passage where Jesus is telling his followers to pray for their enemies and those who persecute them. In fact, He told them that only loving those who love them back will only make them as good as the pagans. Jesus said that we need to love our enemies and pray for them in order to "be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48 NIV). Those are hefty rules to follow. I don't think I can live up to His calling to be perfect.
As I was dwelling on this passage, I was convicted to pray for one person in my life who I have unfairly judged and made into a sort of enemy in my life. As I did, I struggled with how to pray for this person because I realized most of what I really "knew" about this person was based on gossip and assumptions. I can't really pray for God to change their life based on things that quite possibly aren't even true! So I struggled through my prayer and continued to question why God would ask us to love our enemies and pray for them. Then I realized, in praying for them, God was shaping my heart to be more like His. I wasn't praying specifics for my "enemy" because I didn't know them. Instead, God was convicting me to not judge, to not assume, and to not think of myself as better than this other person.
Maybe, the whole reason Jesus teaches us to love our enemies isn't really about them at all. It's not so we can be the bigger person and do the right thing. It isn't about changing them to be more like us, the "good Christians." It's about changing us. God uses selfless prayer for others to change the way we think about them. He convicts us in our thoughts and deeds because who wants to pray to the King of the Universe and sound pretentious? I'm not saying that with one prayer I've entirely changed my way of thinking and have achieved the perfection that Jesus calls us to strive for. I'll never fully get there, but I have been challenged to reassess how I view others. Jesus loved the Samaritan woman at the well when He was supposed to hate her since He was a Jew. He healed the lepers when He was supposed to avoid them for fear of being contaminated Himself. He forgave a criminal while He was dying on the cross for his sins. Jesus loved His "enemies" to the point that He died for them! The least I can do is pray for them and do my best to love them with God's help.
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