Love Your Enemies
Our Christian faith shares roots and certain monotheistic beliefs with both Judaism and Islam. However, Christianity also has several core doctrines that set it apart.
For example, Christians believe in the Trinity – one God who exists simultaneously as three distinct, co-equal persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christians believe that God has eternally existed in a self-giving, communal relationship within Himself.
Another distinct belief of Christians is that the second person of the Trinity, the Son, became flesh. Jesus is not merely a prophet, teacher, or inspirational guide, but rather God Himself who took on human flesh, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. The cross is not a tragic event, but rather an expression of Christ’s total gift of His life that glorifies the Father and offers forgiveness for sins.
Another distinct belief of Christians is the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Christ’s Resurrection is not a symbol, but rather a literal historical event that validates all that Jesus claimed and the first fruits of our future resurrection.
Today, we see a unique teaching of Christ and another distinct belief of Christians. Whereas ancient religions taught loving your friends and hating your enemies, Jesus teaches goodwill toward opponents. Believers are told to love enemies because God is kind to the ungrateful and evil, revealing that His mercy is His greatest attribute.
For Christians, love is defined as willing the good of the other. Regarding enemies, it means a deliberate choice toward them – praying for their conversion and asking God to bless them. It also means surrendering rights to vengeance and retaliation against enemies.
Our Lord’s teaching to love your enemies is certainly one of the most challenging of His teachings. I put forth that it is not natural for fallen human beings to do this. Instead, God’s grace that elevates and heals is needed. Additionally, a new vision is needed, one that looks at Christ who offered His life for the good and the bad.
St. Augustine famously said, “Give what you command, and command what you will.” In other words, God provides the spiritual grace and power required to fulfill whatever moral obligations He asks of us, including loving our enemies. If Jesus commands us to love our enemies, then He also gives us the grace to do it.
~St. Thérèse, pray for us!