Joe R. Price

43 You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”

44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:43-45, NKJV).

God has never told people to hate their enemies. Christians are to practice love toward their enemies just as God practices love toward His. After all, even when the world was sinning against Him, God “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). We were God’s enemies when we lived in sin, but in His great love, He sent us a Savior (Rom. 5:8; Eph. 2:4-5). When people mistreat and sin against you, remember how God has loved you. Christian, you are a child of God. Act like His child and love your enemies. When you do, you will be like your Father in heaven.