Our world seems to be so full of hate, especially recently. I’ve noticed this in the last few years. It seems that we can’t give our opinions without getting tongue lashed by those who disagree with us. Christians who voice their beliefs on the shedding of innocent blood, homosexuality, and other things the Bible states are sins, become the target of vicious attacks, and yet we are condemned as voicing hate speech. Our verses today tell us how we are to deal with these attacks. “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” (Matthew 5:44-45 NLT)
We are to love them. We also need to remember that in our sin, God was merciful and loved us! We are to be like Him! The Bible tells us that we are to endure persecution. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12 KJV) Therefore, we should not be surprised when we are attacked for our stand on Godly principles.
Loving our enemies is not always easy and I would venture to say it is almost impossible without God’s help. In his commentary, Matthew Henry writes, “The Lord Jesus teaches that we must do all the real kindness we can to all, especially to their souls. We must pray for them. While many will render good for good, we must render good for evil; and this will speak a nobler principle than most men act by. Others salute their brethren, and embrace those of their own party, and way, and opinion, but we must not so confine our respect. It is the duty of Christians to desire, and aim at, and press towards perfection in grace and holiness. And therein we must study to conform ourselves to the example of our heavenly Father.”
In what ways should we show our enemies love? We are to pray for them. Pray that God will open their eyes to the truth of God’s Word. Pray that God would touch their hearts and show them where they have gone wrong in their beliefs. It may be that He will use us to help them to see the truth. This doesn’t mean that we beat them over the head and get into heated arguments with them. That never accomplishes anything. Instead, it may just make them dig their heels in deeper and they will never budge.
When they attack us, we are not to retaliate with the same attitude they show us. Show them kindness and love in return for their hostility. When we do this, it may make them think twice, or at least reevaluate their stance on what they believe and what we believe. They may be expecting us to come back at them in hostility, and when we do the opposite of what they expect, they will see Jesus in us. It just may make them think twice about God, who He is, and what He’s done. It just might help them to see how much God loves them.
We may be the only “Jesus” they ever see, and when we respond the way Jesus would, it could cause them to consider asking Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, and in that case, we would be a vessel God has used to bring a lost soul to Him.
Therefore, in this climate of hostility and hate, we need to remember to love those who attack us and point them to the One who loves them more than they could ever know. Show them that our God is merciful and wants a relationship with them.
donnasmusings 
Enjoyed your post. It seems like people are so quick to block you or shun you if there is any disagreement. I am referring to Christians and non-Christians.
Thank you. I’m glad it was a blessing. It can be very discouraging when we are attacked, especially by those who claim to be Christians. We need to love them like Jesus does. He’s our example. I believe what we are seeing in the world today is an attempt by the enemy of our souls to take as many as he can because he knows his time is short.