“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

— Matthew 5:44-45

When someone hurts you or wrongs you, it’s easy to think of revenge and wanting to “get even.”

Some people have lived a big part of their lives being the victim of someone else’s cruelty. And it can be very hard to let go of that pain.

Loving someone whom we like is easy, but loving someone who has given us every reason not to like them is hard. Yet Jesus says that if we want to be like him, forgiveness is at the foundation of our Christian walk.

This is what grace is all about. God loved us so much when we were his enemies that he sent Jesus to renew and restore us to him (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8-11). God has every right to reject us—and yet he keeps loving us fully.

What’s more, God asks us to do the same to everyone around us. Grace is the standard that God sets, and if we as believers accept that grace, we are to live with grace and forgiveness toward all others. Jesus modeled that we are to love others regardless of nationality, personality, faith, or circumstance. Jesus challenges us to be the grace differential so that others may know that we too have been loved and forgiven.

Thank you, Lord, for your grace and your perfect example of loving us. Please help us to love everyone with your love, even when it is hard. Teach us to be more like you every day, we pray. Amen.