Tuesday 18th of June
“Pray for those who persecute you”
Matthew 5:43-48
There is a saying, “Destroy your enemies by making them into your friends.” Jesus and many of his early disciples were persecuted and killed by the Romans. But less than 300 years after Jesus was crucified, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted and made his empire Christian.
We don’t face such harsh treatment. What does it mean that we should pray for our enemies rather than hating them? We need to pray for God to be bless them. So we have to understand them to be able to know what is the best for them. Then, God can show us why they are persecuting us. We may be dealing with an insecure bully who needs God’s peace. Or our persecuter may have had a bad experience with religion in the past and needs our patience and the healing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, please give us an open heart to pray for our enemies, so that we can understand and forgive them. Help us to all be children of our Father in Heaven.