Love Beyond Limits
Following the Father’s Heart, Even When It’s Hard
Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust."
Matthew 5:43-45
Jesus’ teaching here is radical. It goes beyond the command to love our neighbors and ventures into territory most of us would rather avoid: loving our enemies.
That word, enemy, can take many shapes. It might be someone who hurt you deeply. Someone who betrayed your trust. Someone who continues to misunderstand, oppose, or reject you.
Our natural reaction is to pull away or to strike back. But Jesus doesn’t just ask us to avoid retaliation. He asks us to love.
This love is not a passive tolerance or a forced politeness. It’s an active, willing desire for the good of the other person.
And yes, it includes prayer, not to change them for our sake, but to surrender the hurt and invite God into that space.
Why? Because that’s the Father’s way. He pours out sunshine and rain, blessings and mercy, on both the good and the bad.
To be His children is to reflect that same indiscriminate love. Not because it’s easy. But because it’s who we’re called to be.
When we love in this way, we rise above our pain. We choose grace. We align ourselves with heaven.
Who is Jesus inviting you to love today, not out of emotion, but as an act of the will? How might praying for them soften your heart and draw you closer to the Father?
Father, help me love not just the people who are easy to love, but also those who have wounded or opposed me.
Let me see them through Your eyes.
Teach me to pray for them, not with bitterness, but with hope.
May Your mercy flow through me, even when it costs.
Amen.