Pray for your enemies
From today’s Scripture: “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them.” –Rom 12:14
When I was in college, there was someone in my life who treated me without respect or dignity. After a couple months of feeling hurt, for some reason, I started to pray for them. At first it was out of spite: “Lord, I pray that they treat other people in their life better than they treated me!!” But it slowly evolved into a sincere prayer: “Lord, please help them become the person that you created them to be.”
Praying for your enemies, someone you disagree with or someone who has hurt you, is powerful. This simple prayer healed my hurts and led me to forgive them. It gave me perspective: this person was human, too, and maybe something in their past led them to treat me this way. And it showed me how to love them in a way I didn’t think was possible before.
Let us pray: Lord, give me the courage today to pray for someone who has hurt me. Open my heart to be more like yours, which forgave even your persecutors while on the cross.
Today’s author is Theresa Nguyen-Gillen, a member of Glenmary’s Communications Team.
Free delivery! Sign up to receive this in English or in Spanish daily by email.