When Daniel says the words, "O King, live forever," to king Darius of the Persian empire, it should cause us to ask ourselves some questions. Why would Daniel say this to a national enemy? Was it just a phrase or a nicety meant to pacify a ruler, or did Daniel mean what he said?

With the geopolitical landscape being a hotbed of disagreement and fuming frustration, and the world itself becoming increasingly more divided along various lines that sometimes even overlap, we could look at nearly anyone on Earth as an enemy to us in something if we desired to. We may find ourselves angry with world leaders, angry with people who support them, angry with certain stances taken by people we believed to be friends - but do we hold fast to a true and real love that we're supposed to have for all men, including our worst enemies? On the flip side, do we love everyone as the world understands love by accepting all evil that comes along with individual rulers or people we come in contact with? 

What can we learn from Daniel's example when he looks his oppressors and would-be killers dead in the eyes, asks them to repent of their sins, speaks truth to his own disadvantage and harm, and unashamedly continues doing right even when it defies them to their faces, but then simultaneously sees them with real, Godly love and says the words, "O King, live forever."? 

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