Luke 6:27-28 - Do Good to Those Who Hate You

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
Luke 6:27-28

This is such a hard teaching for me. 

I would love to say I am a mirror reflecting the graciousness of God in this area, but ... I'm not. 

At all. 

It's hard enough to walk in love toward people who I care about or feel neutral towards. 

But my enemies????

Does this verse really apply to me?

Can I pray for them exclusively in the way David prayed for his enemies in a few choice Psalms?

In all seriousness, I can handle or at least attempt loving, in an abstractish sort of way. I can try to manage to pray for an enemy.

But actually actively "do[ing] good" to someone who hates me or who has hurt me or someone I love? I'm visualizing this right now, and I don't like it. Not one little bit. Just typing that makes me feel like a horrible person, but YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DID/SAID!!!

It makes me realize I've kind of been living out a version of this verse that would say, "Tolerate your enemies. Try to avoid those who hate you. Don't say anything too mean to those who curse you. Simmer under the surface about those who hurt you."

I'm kind of scared of where obeying this verse could take me.

I'm consciously adding it to the long list of things I need to pray and seek God about.

Awesome words from my homeboys, Tenth Avenue North: here.