Of all God’s commandments, here’s the most challenging: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to those that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
If we can find the courage to live this commandment, the bitterness that erodes careers and relationships can be replaced by healthier, more productive connections. We’ll stop wasting time dwelling on past wrongs and instead move forward with peace and purpose.
So how do we do this? Here are a few principles I’ve learned:
- Recognize God’s miraculous ability to turn hardships into blessings. Isaiah tells us God can give “beauty for ashes.” When we’re wronged—whether it’s being passed over for a promotion, unfairly criticized, or wrongly blamed—those wrongs (“ashes”) can be transformed into unexpected opportunities (“beauty”). Disappointments can open new paths for growth or refine us in ways we didn’t anticipate.
- Believe in Divine Justice. God is merciful, but He’s also just. When wronged, we can trust that compensatory blessings will come into our lives. What’s been taken from us will be restored, even if it comes in a different form, according to God’s timing.
- Pray for those who have hurt you. Jeffrey R. Holland once said, “When we don’t know how or exactly for what to pray, we should begin, and continue, until the Holy Spirit guides us into the prayer we should be offering. This approach may be the one we have to invoke when praying for our enemies and those who despitefully use us.” Prayer is powerful. As a favorite hymn of mine says, “prayer can change the night to day,” even in work relationships.
Loving those who hurt us at work is one of the hardest things we can do. However, living this commandment brings both temporal and spiritual rewards. It helps us rebuild critical relationships we need to be effective, but far more importantly, it purifies us, making us more like Jesus Christ, who showed love and compassion, even to those who hurt Him.