Matthew 5:46-48
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In these three verses, Jesus knocks down every excuse we could ever invent about our human prejudice and hate. Using the examples of tax collectors and pagans, two of the most hated people groups in Jesus’ day, He demonstrates that if we are to represent God, we must love better. If we only love those who are like us, or only love those who are nice to us, we leave out a large chunk of the global population, and Jesus’ Great Commission doesn’t leave out anybody.

But what does “love” mean in this context? It means to see past petty differences and problems, to show God’s forgiveness to those who are lost, to offer comfort to those who are ashamed or in pain. We are called by Jesus in this passage to strive toward “perfect” love–God’s love, which is unconditional and given without hesitation. (We won’t ever quite match up to God, but we can still aim for the ideal.) This takes both humility and patience, realizing that we are no better than anyone else, and that others still deserve to be loved like God loves them, even if they don’t know He exists yet.

This is not an easy practice; it requires breaking down our own prejudices (even the ones we think we don’t have), but it is necessary if we are to be witnesses of God’s love to others.