Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
God loves everyone, especially His enemies. If He did not, then He would not have sent Jesus to tell us, show us, and give us His love. So just like when you grow up in your family’s home and you become more and more like your parents, if we desire to be children of God and live in His house then as we are around Him we should begin to act more and more like Him. Ask God to draw you nearer to Him and fill you with His Spirit that you might grow to be more like Him each and every day.