“...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven...”
(Mt .5:44-45). *This is an action verse. Here, the word ‘love’ is derived from the Greek word, ‘phileo’ (to be a friend to), and the word ‘bless’ is an added word, meaning, ‘to speak well of.’ When we've been treated badly, it's our nature to respond to others according to their behavior toward us. We don't feel like being kind or forgiving! God expects us to obey the ‘command’ of this scripture by putting this verse into action, even if we don’t feel empathy. This command is given to help us...to make us feel better. Feelings of hatred, bitterness & resentment doesn't give us joy, just the opposite. If you have been hurt, and you’re finding it hard to forgive, act on this scripture and see if it doesn’t help heal the wound.
*We are ALL God’s creation...we are ALL loved by him. In these scriptures, he teaches us that in order to be his children, we MUST love our enemies. He doesn’t give any exceptions! Today, we are living in a world that is filled with hatred, where evil & corruption abound! People that profess to know God, are trying to deceive the whole country into believing that God overlooks evil. We are supposed to love those people. God said that he is good to them & we are supposed to follow his example in order to shine his light of love. [Ps 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.] *If we spout hatred & wish these people harm, are we better than them? Shouldn’t we be praying for them - that God would change their heart? Remember Paul? ^He persecuted the church of God! Do we hate Paul? [^1 Cor 15:9...I persecuted the church of God. Acts 22:4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.]
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