"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48

As human beings, we would seek to water down God's commandments to make them fit our own way of thinking, but Jesus holds up to us a higher standard: that of God the Father in heaven.

We too have heard it said that we should love our neighbor, but that it is OK to hate our enemies. But is that what God's law says? Consider the example of our Father in heaven. What does He do? As Jesus said, "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

Even though God would be perfectly just in judging and condemning all who reject Him and rebel against Him, what does He do? He causes His sun to rise even on the evil. He sends rains to water the crops of both the believer and the unbeliever. In fact, instead of dealing with all of us as we deserve for our rebelliousness and disobedience, He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for the sins of all people (cf. 1 John 2:1-2). And, the LORD God is patient with us, not desiring any of us to be lost but desiring that all of us repent and turn to Him for forgiveness and life everlasting (cf. 2 Peter 3:9). He puts up with our disrespect and disregard and patiently calls us back to Him through His Word.

If we desire to be like our heavenly Father, our love cannot only be for a select few we like; it should be for all for whom Christ died – yes, even our enemies, those who curse us, hate us, spitefully use us and persecute us. If we love only those who love us, we are no different than anybody else. God's Word, His commandments, demand more; they demand perfection – that we be perfect just like our Father in heaven is perfect.

Quite obviously, we all fall short of such perfect obedience. How thankful we can be that God's love is perfect and pure!

As the Bible says, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Because God loved us and sent His Son to die for our sins – for the sins of all people – and rise again, we who come so far short can have forgiveness and a place in God's everlasting kingdom.

The Bible also says: "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:9-11).

Dear Father in heaven, we have failed to love as You love. Yet, You have loved us and given Your only-begotten Son to suffer and die for our sins and the sins of all people. Forgive us and cleanse our hearts that we might love as You love. We come before You in Jesus' name. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]