I bet that as you read this title, you blinked and probably thought, “Who am I supposed to love?” Well, the answer according to Scriptures is everyone, of course, but when you dig deeper, you are supposed to love those for whom you don’t naturally feel love. It’s easy to love those who love you in kind. It’s much more difficult to love those people who seem to stand in the way of your success or who hinder your happiness in some way, those whom you see as an “enemy” but God sees them as a person who needs Him. When we love that person, that one who is unkind to us or who deliberately gets on our last nerve, then we are opening a door to their heart to see Jesus and His love in action through us. It’s not easy…I have no doubt that it wasn’t easy for Jesus to forgive everyone who put Him on that cross (which is all of us), but He did anyway. You know, we were once enemies of God before we became Christians, but He loved us before we even repented and came to Him for forgiveness. God is love and to be like Jesus, we are expected to show love to everyone, even the unloving. Maybe especially to the unloving because they need God’s love, too!

From the YouVersion today:

Pray for Who? All throughout Jesus’ ministry, He constantly turned things upside down for those listening. The religious leaders at the time had grown distant from following the laws of God. Jesus’ teaching helped bring them back to the heart of the law, but He often did so through surprising ways. Most of us probably think we do a great job at loving other people. But if we’re being honest, most of us probably spend our time loving those who also love us back. It’s a lot easier to love the people who we’re friends with. When there’s trust built over time and common ground, it’s easy to love. Jesus says that loving those who love you is not enough. In Luke 6:28, He challenges us to bless those who speak negatively about us, and to pray for those who mistreat us. If you’ve ever been mistreated by someone, or had someone speak negatively about you, then you know how hard it can be to love that person. It is hard to love unloving people. And yet, Jesus did exactly that. When we were at our worst, He still loved us. If you find it hard to bless those who mistreat you, begin with prayer. Between you and God in prayer, ask Him to help soften your heart. Ask Him for justice in a specific situation, but also for there to be restoration. Every person who exists is a person Jesus wants to love. And when we make steps to love those who are unloving, we’re showing the love of Jesus to someone who needs it. As we take steps to pray for those who mistreat us, we become more like Jesus. Take a few minutes right now to pray. Ask God to help you grow in love towards those around you. If there is someone who has hurt you, ask God to begin healing your heart. Say a prayer for that person as well. Ask God to be with them, to help them, and to make a way for their heart to be softened as well. Thank Jesus that He loved us even when we were unloving.