19-Feb-23 (Matthew 5:38-48)

Have you ever had someone bully you? Have you had someone who seems to enjoy bothering you? [Wait for answers]
What do you think you should do when this happens? [again, wait]
In the gospel story for today, Jesus says "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." He means that when someone enjoys bothering us and bullying us, we should pray for them. It sounds pretty simple right? Have you ever tried doing that? Do you think it would be of any help?

Let's pray right now and ask God for help with this.
God, it's hard to deal with people who bother us. It's hard to want to do anything but to bother them right back. Help us to pray for these people, not just that you would make them stop. We do want that, but also that you would help us to show them that even when they're bad, you still love them anyway. We appreciate that you love us, even when we're bad, so help us to show that to others, even those who are bad to us.
We pray in Jesus' name.
AMEN.