[Intro]
I know how to love
the people who love me.

I know how to pray
for the people who pray for me.

But You said something harder.

Love your enemies.

So Lord...

this prayer
is going to cost me.

[Verse 1]
There's a name I don't like hearing.
There's a wound I haven't closed.
There's a memory that still finds me
when I thought I'd let it go.

I can tell You why I'm angry.
I can list what they have done.
I can build a perfect argument
for why they don't deserve my love.

Then I look upon the cross
and hear forgiveness in Your pain.

“Father, forgive them.”

And suddenly
my reasons start to change.

I was never loved by Jesus
because I earned the love He gave.

So how can I receive Your mercy
then decide who gets my grace?

[Pre-Chorus]
This isn't easy.
This isn't weak.
This is my flesh
dying underneath me.

So when everything in me
wants to hold the wound...

teach me
to look like You.

[Chorus]
Teach me to love them
when I don't want to.
Teach me to pray
when I'd rather walk away.

When they never say they're sorry,
when they never make it right,
don't let what they did to me
decide who I become in Christ.

I give You my anger.
I give You my right
to carry this hatred
for the rest of my life.

Jesus,
You loved Your enemies.

Teach me
to love mine.

[Scripture]
Matthew five, verse forty-four:
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

[Verse 2]
I don't have to call wrong righteous.
I don't have to trust a lie.
I can draw a needed boundary
without hatred in my life.

I can tell the truth with courage.
I can walk away from harm.
But I cannot call You Master
while revenge controls my heart.

So when I hear they're hurting,
don't let something in me smile.
When I hear that they have fallen,
don't let vengeance feel divine.

When their name comes up in prayer,
let me truly seek their good.

Not because they earned forgiveness.

Because You told me
that I should.

[Chorus]
Teach me to love them
when I don't want to.
Teach me to pray
when I'd rather walk away.

When they never say they're sorry,
when they never make it right,
don't let what they did to me
decide who I become in Christ.

I give You my anger.
I give You my right
to carry this hatred
for the rest of my life.

Jesus,
You loved Your enemies.

Teach me
to love mine.

[Bridge]
They mocked You.

You stayed.

They struck You.

You endured.

They stripped You.

You loved.

They nailed You
to the cross.

And You prayed
for them.

Not after
they apologized.

Not after
they understood.

Not after
they changed.

While the nails
were still there.

[Build]
Luke twenty-three, verse thirty-four:
Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.

While the nails
were still there...

You forgave.

So while the wound
still hurts...

teach me.

While the memory
still burns...

teach me.

While I still don't understand...

teach me.

I don't want bitterness
to become the altar
where I sacrifice
my obedience.

[Breakdown]
I release the debt.

Not because it didn't matter.

Not because it didn't hurt.

Not because what happened
was acceptable.

I release it
because vengeance
belongs to You.

I will not become
what wounded me.

[Final Chorus]
Teach me to love them
when I don't want to.
Teach me to pray
when every word is hard.

Bless the ones
who cursed me.

Pray for those
who wounded me.

Give me strength
to overcome evil
with good.

Take the anger.
Take the hatred.
Take revenge
out of my hands.

I have placed
my whole life
on Your altar.

So this belongs there too.

Jesus,
You loved Your enemies.

You loved me
when I was Yours.

Teach me
to love like You.

[Outro]
Maybe this
is a living sacrifice too.

Not only
what I give.

Not only
where I go.

Sometimes...

it's what
I refuse to carry anymore.

The wound is real.

But it will not
be my master.

Jesus is.

Teach me
to love.
