Loving the “unlovable”

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ Jesus tells his listeners: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, 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; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:43–45).

It definitely seems easier to pray for those we love, those who are close to us, and those who ask for our prayers. When our feelings have been hurt or we are upset with someone, it is tempting to turn away. Yet Jesus urged us to embrace those who have been unkind or unjust to us.

My mother used to say that it is easy to love the lovable, but that the true test of prayer is in unselfed love—loving and seeing others as God loves and sees us all. Thinking this through, I suspect Jesus’ teaching has to do with the fact that only the loving, prayerful, spiritual identification of those around us can reveal that we are all children of God. Mary Baker Eddy begins the chapter “Prayer” in the Christian Science textbook with this statement: “The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God,—
a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 1).