God calls us to love our enemies so how do we do that?

The golden rule, love your neighbor as yourself. It's a great standard to live by yet it is nearly impossible, especially because of who falls into our category of "neighbor". Christ explains that our neighbors are not defined by who we like and get along with by rather defined as anyone we come into contact with. Most definitely a few of these people will end up hurting us and maybe have done so many hurtful things to us that we consider them enemies. So could Christ really be calling us to love our enemies?! You bet!

THE PROBLEM
It is not in our own fallen nature to love someone that hates us. We, by nature, are a very selfish, quick tempered, envious, and prideful species. It wasn't intended for us to be this way and yet that's what we've become.

THE SOLUTION
God knows that it is only possible do accomplish this way of life through the work of the Holy Spirit. That is a very important statement! Don't underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit. When we call on Him He makes everything that is impossible, possible. When in the scriptures Peter lacked the faith to walk on the water through the holy spirit he was bold enough to preach the gospel to thousands at pentacost, the foundations shook, and 3 thousand in one day came to Christ!

Jesus was a bit of a hippie!
The scriptures say this, "My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!" 1 John 4:12. Love is in the bible more than nearly everything else. God calls us to love CONSTANTLY! That alone tells us how important living our life in this way praises God.That is a command that we must work at repeatedly because there will always be people who will test your capacity to love them. Christ calls us NOT to live by the sword but to live by love. "LOVE NOT WAR, MAN!"

Win the battle through prayer
Prayer is the best thing you can do for your enemies and also yourself. It truly does give you a supernatural peace when you pray for your enemies. "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:44.  Why do you think it is that God calls us to pray for our enemies? God has the amazing ability to change our heart and mind in that moment and in moments of frustration so that we will not be tempted to sin our anger. God can begin to show us how He loves that person which is something that often
rubs off on us!

If you have to be around an enemy often, first, continue to pray for God to love and bless them, then pray that God would allow you to have a spirit of gentleness in the heat of confrontation. Ask God to give you the words and always remember that is it your job to tame YOUR tongue no matter what the other person does.
Sometimes the most frustrating relationships are with enemies who are also Christians. Christians, obviously, make many mistakes but what if they continue to hurt you even though they know God calls them to love?
This is what God commands,

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death– even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:1-11)

Christ also says  "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing" 1 Cor. 13:1-3

I get so frustrated sometimes because the scriptures tell us time and time again to encourage each other yet often times we focus more time and energy on tearing each other down. So in the case of confrontation, both parties need to be willing to reconcile and forgive one another as we are called to do. "Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose." 1 Corinthians 1:10.  We must work together. So many Christians live their lives with the same amount of vendettas as non believers. God calls our morals and actions to be ABOVE reproach. We shouldn't be listening to the world's wisdom that tells us it's okay to hate people who hate us. We cannot obey God’s command when we hold grudges against our brothers.  God even blesses people in the bible who are willing to show grace and forgive others that have harmed them. If Daniel could forgive his good friend and king, Darius, for throwing him in the Lion's den to be slaughtered, I think we can forgive A LOT but again, only the Spirit can give you this strength. We have a command to love and a promise of enrichment in Christ when we are loving those that hurt us. That is an eternal reward. We have everything to gain if we choose to do right by our enemies which is to love and to forgive. After all wasn't this Christ's example for all of us?