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One of the reasons it's so hard to love our enemies is we barely even know what that means. What does it actually look like to "love" an enemy? Does that just mean thinking nice thoughts about them? Writing nice notes? Sending presents?

Good news — the Bible provides us with a little cheat sheet of what love actually looks like. Today's Scripture reading comes from 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, and it really breaks down what love is supposed to look like. When you look through the list that Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, you see that love isn't just warm fuzzies. It's an active, ongoing thing. It takes patience and commitment.

None of this makes loving our enemies much easier, but it does at least give us some basic guidelines about what we should be striving for. More importantly, it helps us have a better understanding of how to pray. On our own strength, we probably don't have what it takes to love our enemies the way Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians. With God's help, anything is possible.

So when you start feeling your anger toward an enemy turn into hatred, think about this list. Ask God to help protect you from hatred, and for the ability to instead reach for patience, kindness, and the other things described in this chapter on love. Once you know what love actually looks like, it's easier to put a plan together for how you're going to love your enemies the way God calls us to.