Day 8
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Lord Voldemort. Thanos. The Joker. Maleficent. So many stories have a villain. The hero has an enemy. There’s conflict between good and evil. In most stories, the hero defeats the villain, and that’s it—no kind words exchanged, no forgiveness offered, no new friendships formed. Maybe we don’t have supervillains in our lives, but we might have someone who did something to us or treated us wrongly, and Jesus instructs us to treat our enemies differently. He calls us to do our best to love our enemies. Whoa! Pump the brakes. That’s not so easy, right?
Well, the good news is Jesus doesn’t just tell us to do this—he also modeled it. He died for the sins of ALL people—his friends and his enemies. Even on the cross, he asked God to forgive those who put him there. Because of that, we can follow his lead in doing our best to love those who aren’t always easy to love. Is there someone in your life who you struggle to get along with? This week, do your best to show kindness to them. Try praying for them. Love that person with your words, actions, and thoughts.