Loving Your "Enemies"

"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. 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. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48

Who is your enemy? Some of us have real enemies--people who want to harm us in some way. Then there are those that we just disagree with. Some in the Church view the gay community and abortion rights proponents as their enemy, and they treat them with contempt and even hatred. They, in turn, hate us back. The overall message in these verses from Matthew is that we are to show the world that we are different. Regardless of who we consider to be our enemy, no matter what they have done, we are to show love. Were we once sinners? Did Christ not die for us, in spite of the things we had done? We are to demonstrate the same attitude as our Father and our Brother demonstrated towards us:

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8