Matthew 5:43-48
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Our Lord loved those who hated him and crucified him, in human terms his enemies.
But as Christians today can we do the same?
Franklin Graham was criticized when he said we should pray for President Putin.
He was correct, he was being biblical.
So this morning I say to you to include President Putin and all those people taking orders from him who are complicit in this genocide.
In light of the article below it would not be too hard to see that if Christ were here saying to love our enemies he would be railroaded (probably by Christians) into prison or be lynched.
"The forgive them father for they know not what they do is very applicable to us today. Like those people who cheered on the crucifixion of Jesus we react with our emotions and sin and not our faith and objectivity.
We are a stiff necked, lost and evil people.
Today we must love our enemies. We must confess our sins to Christ, we must repent of our sinful thinking and behavior, we must learn to love our enemies? - Andy
Should We Love Our Enemies Even During a Time of War?
"Recently, some Christians in Ukraine came under fire for putting up billboards in their city with verses from the Bible, one of which quoted the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount where He called us to love our enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48). As a result, these Christians have been branded separatists and traitors, with some calling for their church to be investigated.
But was Jesus referring to situations like this when He called us to love our enemies? Are we to love those who ruthlessly bomb our families? Are we to love those who rape our women and murder our children? Are we to love those who tie the hands of civilians behind their backs before executing them? Is this really what Jesus meant?
To be sure, these Ukrainian Christians (some of whom I know) were not calling for pacifism. They believe in defending their country, and they believe in the use of force to resist and repel the attack on their nation. In fact, I could easily see them praying for God to be with them as they fought against the Russian army, the result of which would be Russian casualties..." from the article: Should We Love Our Enemies Even During a Time of War?