But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven.
—Matthew 5:44- 45
This is one of Jesus’ most pointed commands. Unfortunately, it’s also one that gets ignored frequently, especially among Christians. Most Christians agree that loving an enemy is hard—perhaps too hard for Jesus to truly expect of us. We assume that if Jesus knew how trying our enemies were, He wouldn’t ask us to love them. Although we might try to love our enemies, we’re often stumped as to how that can be done.
The truth is, Jesus does know each of our enemies. Furthermore, He knows exactly what they’ve done to us. He understands our pain, anger and fear where enemies are concerned because He has been through it. He was crucified despite being sinless. For our sins and our forgiveness, He endured one of the most painful and humiliating deaths humanity has ever conceived. Despite that, He forgave those who crucified Him. He explicitly asked for God to forgive them while hanging on the cross.
It’s easy to say if Jesus can do that, we should be able to love those who wrong us. We aren’t Jesus, and some of those wrongs are very serious— physical and verbal abuse, molestation, accusations of crimes we didn’t commit and more. However, we can find the ability to love our enemies in some small ways.
Praying for love. If you have no love for your enemy, ask God to give you His.
Performing small gestures. You don’t have to trust this enemy, but if it’s safe to do so, send him or her an encouraging letter or small gift.
Talking through the problem. Again, if it’s safe, approach your enemy and ask what you can do to restore your relationship or find some form of peace.
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