Luke 6:35-38
"'But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High... Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.'"
The Lord taught us to love our enemies, for it is the will of God. God loves the world, and He didn't say that He only loves good people in the world; He even gave us His only son so that those who believe in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus also set an example for love, for Romans 5:8 says: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." He took on all our weaknesses and punishments that we deserve to get. When the Lord was on the cross, the first thing He said was: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." When the centurion under the cross heard it, he immediately knew that Jesus is the Son of God, because no one could have being so forgiving unless it is out of true love. The Holy Spirit came to live in us to bring forth the sacrificial love of Jesus, so that we can love our enemies; such love cannot be from the body, but only from God.
When the famous artist Da Vinci was painting Judas in the "Last Supper," he was wondering what Judas looked like. First image came to mind was someone he really hated, so he painted the face of that person in place of the Judas on the painting. When he was ready to start painting Jesus on the second day, however, he just couldn't do it, and he was filled with anxiety. The more he thought about love of the Lord, and more he couldn't sleep. Suddenly his mind opened, he went to his workshop and wiped off the face of his enemy. And then, he could clearly visualize the face of Jesus Christ, which was filled with love and forgiveness.
Holy Spirit has the power to pour the love of Jesus onto us, so that we can love those who are difficult for us to love. Matthew 5:44 says: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." It might be hard for us to love our enemies, but we can at least pray for them. When we are willing to obey and pray on our knees before God for those who persecute us, we will experience relief and the downpour of love of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Perhaps deep down inside you do not feel any love, but when you obey God and pray, God's grace will flow through you. Are there people in your life that you cannot face, or you cannot love because of your hatred for them? Let us obey God's word from our heart, so that we no only love our enemies, but also pray for those who persecute us. Let us get on our knees before God to bless those who hurt us, and we will be released from the hatred.
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