Love Your Enemies

This verse caught my eye this morning during my daily reflection:

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” — Matthew 5:44

There’s nothing particularly complicated about the instruction. That doesn’t make it easy.

It’s easy to be kind to people who are kind to us. Easy to give grace to people we agree with, understand, or like. The harder test is what we do with the people who frustrate us, disappoint us, hurt us, or seem determined to make our lives more difficult.

In the Biblical tradition, as narrated in the New Testament book of Matthew, Jesus doesn’t say tolerate them. He says love them. Pray for them.

I can think of a few places in my life where I could probably stand to sit with that distinction a little longer.