O God, you so loved the world that you gave your only-begotten Son to reconcile earth with heaven: Grant that we, loving you above all things, may love our friends in you, and our enemies for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
This prayer speaks of God’s desire to bring about the reconciliation with humanity which has been lost since Adam and Eve decided they knew what was right better than God. Our part in bringing about that healing of the rupture in our relationship with God seems to be loving others because we love God most of all. Friends we need to love as gifts from God who reveal God’s love for us. Enemies we are to love because God loves them and wants them to be reconciled as much as he wants the same for us.
How different our dealings with “enemies” or adversaries might be when we remind ourselves that God loves them. Conflicts and disagreements will still arise, and some acts will still deserve punishment. But how we treat them is bound to be affected by the importance we put on God’s love for them.
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