Matthew 5: 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that
ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Child of the Father, Disciple of Jesus
Some people are certainly harder to love than others, but Jesus did tell us to love 'em all. During our prayer time, it is important to pray for all of our loved ones (the ones that are easy to love) and all of our enemies (the ones we have to really work on loving) as well. We should pray for the "haves" and the "have-nots", the givers and the takers. We should pray for the "doers" and the "don'ters", the peacemakers and the warmongers. We should pray for Jesus to give us the ability to see them all through His eyes and love them as He does.
When Jesus was on the mountaintop giving the Beatitudes speaking to His close followers - His disciples, He told them they had to love their enemies to be ...children of the Father in Heaven.
After Judas (one of those same disciples) had gone out to betray Christ from the Last Supper, Jesus once again spoke to the disciples about love. He told them to remember to love one another. He said by their showing this love everyone would recognize them for who they were...Disciples of Jesus.
I believe Jesus was telling them (without telling them what Judas had done) - that they should love each other no matter what happens along the way. He was preparing them for the shocking news that would come to them soon. Even when someone really close to us makes a shocking mistake and turns to the camp of the enemy we still must keep on loving them if we want to be children of the Father and disciples of Jesus.
As children of the Father and disciples of Jesus, the world is watching to see how we treat one another in good times and bad. When a fellow disciple falls do we keep on showing him love?... By this will all men know you are my disciples if you love one another...
During our prayer time may we pray as Jesus did... Father forgive them.
Keep on loving even when it is hard. Keep on praying for God to give you His kind of love for all men.
jbp