Daily Devotional
"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 5:44-45a
The medieval church pictured love as a four-petaled flower on a single stem: love of God, love of self, love of neighbor, love of enemy. The same sap runs through every petal. Doriani notes that Jesus’ radical command in verse 44 is not a new petal grafted onto a different plant; it is the natural extension of the same love that began with the Father. If you love God truly, that love overflows into a sober love of self as one made in his image, and then into the love of neighbor, and then, on the same stem, all the way to the enemy.
Notice that Jesus does not merely forbid hatred; he commands action. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Chrysostom said that he who prays for himself performs an act of nature, but he who prays for his enemy performs an act of grace. Praying for yourself is normal; praying for your persecutor is supernatural. Blomberg points out that the proof of regeneration is precisely here, where natural love runs out. Anyone can love the easy people; even the tax collectors do that.
One pastor said you cannot genuinely pray for someone without hoping good for them. Test it. Try praying by name for the person you most resent. Do it daily. You will discover that prayer changes you long before it changes them. That, in fact, is the goal. The aim of praying for your enemy is not first their conversion but yours. If a flower is missing a petal, it is not a different flower. It is a damaged flower. Jesus wants to restore the whole bloom.
Today's Challenge
1. Which petal of the flower of love is most damaged in your life right now? What does that broken petal look like in your relationships? 2. Write down the name of one enemy or persecutor. Will you commit to praying for them by name every day for the next thirty days? What do you fear about that?
Prayer
Father, I do not naturally love my enemies. I tolerate them at best and avoid them at worst. Forgive me for a love that stops at the easy people. Pour your Spirit into me until the same sap of love runs through every petal of my life. Give me the grace to pray for my persecutor by name, and to want their good even when it costs me. Amen.
