Month End Reflection: Am I Praying For My Enemies and For the Wicked?

Make no mistake that Christians are called to hate sin. Sin must be hated because God hates sin. But there's one thing that we fail to see that God hates sin, He will punish both sin and the sinner, He's angry with the wicked every day but Christians are called to love the lost. It's one thing to hate sin and it's another to love the sinner. That is loving lost sinners enough to tell them the truth about their being lost.

What's the commandment of God? I'm called to love my enemies (Matthew 56:43-48, Luke 6:27-35). I'm called to love them enough to tell them the truth. I'm called to pray for their salvation even if they do all sorts of bad things. It hurts to be persecuted for the wrong reasons. It hurts to be falsely accused. Forgiveness doesn't mean condoning to the evil they do. Rather, it's all about not holding a grudge and letting God's justice take its course.

So how am I to love my enemies? I'm called to rebuke the works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). I can rebuke without loving but I can't love without rebuking. This is all about rebuking people about their sins and telling them about salvation from sin because I love these unsaved people. I'm called to return evil for good (Proverbs 25:21, Romans 12:20). Returning their evil for evil will just cause me to perpetuate hatred. Hatred can't be defeated by hatred but only love for one's enemies. 

Why pray for the persecutors? Remember Jesus prayed for His persecutors. Stephen prayed for his persecutors. If I have a hard time dealing with praying for such people I simply must remember that Jesus prayed for Me while I was His enemy. If He did that for me should't I be praying for my enemies?