Hurt people hurt people

Today I am reminded of the soldiers who hammered nails into Jesus's hands and feet without a second thought as to the additional pain they were inflicting, and/or with justification as to their actions. Aren't there many people like that? And yet amongst the people we love and want to pray for, and the hurting people we are often asked to pray for, are those people we don't like and who have particularly hurt or offended us. They absolutely need our prayers too. You may have heard the expression that "Hurt people hurt people". There can be a myriad of reasons as to why people are able to hurt others, such as a heart hardened to the feelings of others because of their previous emotional traumas etc. Let us not pick and choose who we are comfortable in praying for but follow God's guidance. Jesus, our perfect example, prayed for his tormentors and executioners with the words, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).