Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 5:44-46

"but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" — Matthew 5:44-46 (ASV)

It is our part to persist in loving, even if people persist in enmity. We are to offer blessing for cursing, prayers for persecutions. Even in the cases of cruel enemies, we are to do good to them, and pray for them. We are no longer enemies to any, but friends to all.

We do not merely cease to hate and then remain in a cold neutrality, but we love where hatred seemed inevitable. We bless where our old nature prompts us to curse, and we are active in doing good to those who deserve to receive evil from us. When this is practically carried out, people wonder, respect, and admire the followers of Jesus. The theory may be ridiculed, but the practice is revered and is considered so surprising that people attribute it to some Godlike quality in Christians and acknowledge that they are the children of the Father who is in heaven.

Indeed, he is a child of God who can bless the unthankful and the evil, for in daily providence the Lord is doing this on a great scale, and only His children will imitate Him. To do good for the sake of the good done, and not because of the character of the person benefited, is a noble imitation of God. If the Lord only sent the fertilizing shower upon the land of the saintly, drought would deprive vast areas of land of all hope of a harvest. We also must do good to the evil, or we will have a narrow sphere, our hearts will become constricted, and our sonship towards the good God will become doubtful.