Love Your Enemies

When Jesus commands us in Luke 6:27-28, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (NASB), He gives reasons why we are to live this way. Probably the most significant reason is that it shows us to be "sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men" (Lk 6:35 NASB). In other words, it displays His character in our lives. Every mere human being that God has loved has been His enemy at some point, for sin makes a person God's enemy (Rom 5:9-10), and "all have sinned" (Rom 3:23). One way that we are different from God is that there are human beings in our life that have never been our enemy. So it is not really our love for these people that make us like God (Lk 6:32-33), but our love for our enemies that makes us like God. What joy God has in turning His enemies into His friends! Let's follow His example!