Human love is shallow, sentimental, and selective. Our hearts are filled with self-seeking, blindness, prejudice, and hatred. And because of those deep-rooted natural tendencies, we hurt one another. But the Christian’s natural tendencies have been joined by supernatural ones—we are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now no offense, no sin, no harm, and no attack should ever cause us to limit the flow of Christ’s love though us.
When Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), He was calling us to love to the same extreme He demonstrated. Only Jesus can empower His followers to love those who have maligned, attacked, and harmed them.
This kind of love can span chasms of hurt and misunderstanding. It can overwhelm petty slights and oversights. And this kind of love can extend even to people who have purposefully sinned against us.
Love everyone everywhere. This is what we do—we love without condition.