Jesus refers back to loving your neighbor and hating your enemy as He begins His next section of teaching:
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18)
Jesus, of course, as He has been doing, takes this teaching a step further. He says not only should we love our neighbors, but we should also love our enemies…even pray for those who persecute us so that we can be called children of God. It’s almost as if how we treat others determines who we are living for.
Jesus says that if we only love those who love us back, or who are easy to love, it would make us no different than the pagans and the tax collectors. Even they love those who love them…but we are to be different and love those who do not love us back.
Then Jesus finishes up by saying to be perfect as God is perfect. How can we be perfect? John refers to God as perfect love in his first letter. Could it be that Jesus is asking us to pursue perfect love in our life by loving our enemies?
Being a follower of Jesus is not always the easiest path. Loving our enemies does not always sound like fun. But let me ask you…have their been moments you have done wrong against God? Have their been moments you didn’t stand up for His name, you were disobedient, or even rebellious in your sin? God loves us in spite of all of the moments we don’t choose Him. He has already given us the example…now it’s time for us to follow through.
A Journey With Jesus 