Imago Dei

So I went to Starbucks to read and as I started reading, a question popped into my head.
My question stems from a quote from John Calvin's writing, "On the Christian Life":

"In this way only we attain to what is not say difficult but altogether against nature, to love those that hate us, render good for evil, and blessing for cursing, remembering that we are not to reflect on the wickedness of men, but look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, should be its beauty and dignity allure us to love and embrace them."

With regard to the concept of loving people because the are image bearers of Christ; how does this apply to someone who is attempting to inflict bodily harm or kill you for no other reason than it pleases them? Are we still called to love this person?
Do the words of Jesus which say, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44) apply to someone like this? Certainly, by their purpose they are your enemy, but having established that they must be loved and prayed for because they are your enemy a second question is asked: can one see Christ in another, who by their actions, behaves contrary to Christ?
But then, are we to look at the actions, motives, and thoughts of that person as the image of Christ in them? Or instead, is it the ability to reason and emote, or the mere fact that they are identified as human by their genetic structure; are these what define the image of Christ in them?
So what then is the image of Christ? To start we can list off the characteristics of Christ, but, being that this person is your enemy and is trying to harm you, the characteristics of Christ would either be non-apparent or absent in this person.
This begs the question then, how do we know God? I don't think there is a simple answer to this question. For myself I would say I know God firstly because he chose to reveal himself to me; secondly, I know God because I choose to persue a relationship with him and in the process of this relationship I have known him experientially as well as through scripture.
So having given a rudimentery understanding of how God can be known, we go back to the original question, what is the image of Christ? I would say that it is that which you have experienced and known Christ to be. This is a complicated concept because what I know and have experienced Christ to be is different than what others may have experienced or known Christ to be. Thus, each of us is beginning at a different starting point, but ultimately God is the same regardless of how we understand him.
So the 'what' leads to the 'how'. How, then, can we see Christ in others, especially when the other is your enemy? This is by no means a perfect theory, but one could say that the image of Christ is our experience and knowledge of Christ projected onto another person.
Taking this theory a step further, as Christians, hopefully, we know and believe that Christ is the author and creator of all life. Psalm 139 states this. Because Christ is the creator of life and because he called his creation good, and called the creation of humans very good (Genesis 1:31), humankind is given immense worth. This declaration of the goodness of the creation of humankind can be seen as God's stamp of approval on humankind. This stamp, then, is the image of Christ on the human being.
Thus, by knowing that God created all humankind and declared his creation good and giving humankind immense worth and leaving his Christ-impression on them, we can love others, even our enemies.
I believe this satisfies my first question of how do I see the image of Christ in someone who is trying to kill or maim me for sheer enjoyment. The reason being that it does not matter the degree or the severity of their evil motivations or actions; sin is still sin regardless of how grand or miniscule we perceive it to be. To God, if I choose to lie to my parents or if a man kills his neighbor, each action is equally damning. Thus because we all have done something that has seperated us from God, it does not matter how good a person we are, or how great or pleasant a life we lead, we all deserve death. (Romans 3:23-25, Isaiah 53:4-7) Thus, the reason for the cross. Thus, the reason for Christ's sacrifice. He died and now we don't have to. Is Jesus, Lord of your life or are you lord of your own life? (Romans 10:8-13)
Now that we have loved, we must progress to praying for our enemies. This might even be harder than just loving them. This does not mean we pray against them and for their demise. This means that we pray for God to intercede or to reveal himself to your enemy. How great would it be to see the one who formerly wished you dead or at least worse off than your were previously, now a brother or sister in Christ. Instead of wishing ill upon you, they are now praying protection over you. Instead of hating you, they love you.
Now this is the positive outcome; what if your enemy does not turn toward God? What if he continues to hate you and God? Well, I think all you can do is just keep showing love to them and keep praying for them so that you will be blameless and your enemy will have no ammunition to use against you, save his own malice. God has a plan and maybe you won't see the outcome of your enemies life. Simply trust that God will do as he sees fit; he is sovereign, we are not.

what are your thoughts on the matter? If you think (or know) i'm wrong on some point, I want to know.