"Pray for those who persecute you..."

^{Matthew 5:43-48 NLT}

⁴³ “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’^[a] and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies!^[b] Pray for those who persecute you! ⁴⁵ In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. ⁴⁶ If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. ⁴⁷ If you are kind only to your friends,^[c] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. ⁴⁸ But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

People intrigue me. You can be the nicest person in the world, and you'll still have people who hate you. I can think of at least three instances in my life where people have done things to me, personally, intent on destroying me or my relationship with another person.

One in particular happened in college. Someone swapped out the return email address on their email client with mine and sent an email to the entirety of the faculty and staff of the college with a very negative statement in it. I have no idea who it was, and I really don't care at this point, but one way or another, it hurt badly at the time, and only by the grace of God did I not drop out of college because of it. I had a secure alibi at the time, having been no-where near a computer at the time, and this was nearly 20 years ago, long before the time of smartphones, so there was no negative blow-back on me from the college, but it still hurt that someone would do something so hateful. 

The second instance occurred a few years back. I was working for the organization I now am employed with, and a rather bitter fellow employee wanted my job. I found out about it much later, but apparently he and another employee did their best to undermine my position. I am thankful that it didn't work, I just kept trying to do the right thing and both of them ended up no longer employed at that same organization. I suppose the proverb, "he who walks in integrity walks securely" held true.

The third instance is more recent. An individual has been trying to undermine my relationship with another person. It hurts because I haven't earned the anger or hatred of this person, but I'm still on the receiving end. 

So, what am I to do? Well, I am again turning to the above passage, as I have in the past. I've been praying for the person in question. It's not easy. I want to be angry, I want to verbally attack and give them a piece of my mind, but I can't bring myself to do that. 

There are at least three reasons I've chosen this path, aside from the obvious command of Jesus Christ. Firstly; it would just make the other individual angrier than they already are. Secondly; it would do more harm to the relationship that person is trying to undermine. Thirdly; it would do me no good and cause harm to my own spirit. 

So, instead I've been praying for the person in question that God will turn their jealousy into understanding, their anger into peace, their bitterness into contentment, and their hatred into love. 

Again, it's not an easy thing, but look at the example we're given. We're told to "be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." That's a tall order. It's huge. How on earth can I be perfect? I know I'm not, but forgiveness is a first step. 

This is coming from a man who looked down from a Roman cross and asked God the father to forgive the very people who were killing him.

Love your enemies...wow. That's huge.