Matthew 5:44 NIV; But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
This verse in the Bible may illustrate to you one of the most difficult acts that our loving Lord and Savior acts us to do. He not only says to love the ones that would love to see you at your worst but he tells us to pray for them. Why? Because we are children of God. As His children, we have just that much capacity within us to dig deep enough within our hearts to go the extra mile and pray for those that persecute us.
And for the record, we’re not talking about the person behind the register that gave you a dirty look – we’re talking about the very person in your life that you go home to. God wants you to have the kind of heart to be forgiving to the person that may be causing you the most hurt in your life. God loves them too - toHeavenly Father, they deserve His love just as much as we do.
I can remember the first time my ex-husband put his hands on me. My husband is 6’0, 200lbs of all muscle. He had the biggest hands I’d ever seen on a man, so the thought of challenging him against my 5’2” frame was just Ludacris, but I did it anyway. I woke up on the bathroom floor with an excruciating sore throat and the worst headache I’d ever had in my life, because he’d choked me until I passed out. I had nothing but hate in my heart and thoughts of wanting someone to do anything to get him out of my life.
So, to read in God’s Word that we should love our enemies and pray for them too…huh, this was unimaginable to me for a very long time. Even years after my divorce from him, I still couldn’t bring myself to pray for someone that caused me just that much hurt and pain. And every time, I read this verse, I thought to myself, I still must have a very long way to go because I still can’t bring myself to pray for him.
It took years, but it finally hit me one day that the only way I can be delivered is to trust God enough with my heart to the point that I believed God would always have my back, no matter what I went through. After years of seeking God to heal my heart, I was finally able to pray for my ex-husband.
None of us are perfect and all of us have room for improvement. I encourage you to never settle within yourself that your love can’t go that deep. If God says you can do it, you definitely have it within yourself to love deeper than you can ever imagine. And with that deep love comes an even deeper acknowledgement and acceptance that God loves you enough to forgive you for all of your wrong doings as well.
If there is someone in your life that has done you harm, or have spoken negative words over your life – don’t hold it against them. It’s not them that you wrestle against – it’s the spiritual powers in high places that govern their actions. You have the capacity to pray for those that persecute you. You’re much stronger and more tenacious than you think.
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