Loving enemies

Are there kids you don't like? Maybe because they make you feel ugly or stupid or like you don't fit in. Maybe they hurt you and you're afraid of them.

That's hard to deal with. But you can. I know because this happened to me. Some people did something that hurt me in a big way. I knew I could pray about this and find a way to be happy again. I didn't want to be angry or hurt. This was hard for me at first.

I thought about Jesus. Lots of people made fun of him or threatened him to stop him from doing his healing work. But he never got angry. He didn't change who he was. And he didn't stop doing what God wanted him to do.

Jesus knew he was God's son and always with God. He knew he was doing what God wanted him to do. So he kept on doing good, no matter what. Jesus must have felt so much love that he could see past the terrible things people did. He was so sure that God was the Father, always loving and taking care of everyone. So it wasn't like them, as God's children, to do bad things. The interesting thing is that when Jesus loved people this way, they changed. They became more like how God made them to be.

One time when Jesus was teaching people about God and how to do what is right, he said, "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" (Matt 5:44).

That may seem like a hard thing to do. But Jesus went on to say that loving our enemies is being like God. God loves everyone. Since we're God's children, we are naturally like Him. We can use His love to do the loving he expects us to do. We can love our enemies, and they'll change and not be our enemies anymore.

I knew I had to be clear about who I was – God's child. He made me to be of great value. He was always loving and protecting me. So nothing could ever hurt me. I could stop thinking that I had enemies. When that bad thing happened to me, at that exact time, I was actually loved and cared for by God. I had never been separate from God's love.

I wanted to try to go on being who I was (God's child) and doing the work God wanted me to do. I could be honest, work hard, and love others. Loving others included thinking the way God would think about those people who hurt me. I also kept trusting that God would keep loving me and taking care of me.

Time passed. Then one day the most amazing idea came to me. In an instant I knew how much God loved each of those people who had hurt me. I could even feel God's love for them. This wonderful feeling covered me and completely washed away every last bit of anger and sadness.

I was so grateful to God. I knew He was showing this to me because He loved me. He wanted me to see how much He loved those other people too. He showed me how I could love them.

God loves all of us so much. A book about Jesus called "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy says, "Divine Love [God] always has met and always will meet every human need" (pg. 494). You can trust God to help you with anything, even with loving your enemies.