If “the aim of our charge is love” (1 Timothy 1:5), then what does love as followers of Jesus look like? Who are we to love and how are we to love them? What about people who have hurt us? Paul shows us that loving others is to go as far and wide as the love of God, which is for all people. God invites us to lovingly pray for our enemies, for rulers, and for all people, not only to work in their lives, but also in us, that God may shape our hearts to reflect his own.
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Additional passages: Genesis 2:10-14 , John 3:16-17 , 1 John 2:2 , Ephesians 6:12, Romans 5:8