Matthew 5:44 (CSB) – “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
My downstairs neighbors cause me and my family serious frustration. They smoke marijuana, which is a violation of the lease-agreement, and the smoke rises through the seams of our old apartment building and fills our apartment. My kids of asthma. And I’m hyper-sensitive to smoke (always have been). On top of all this, when I try to say hello or act friendly towards them, they’re rude back to me. So, I constantly struggle with both my heart towards my neighbors and the wisdom to know how to love them, yet, none of this rises to what we’re talking about in this post because, as frustrating as my neighbors are, they’re not my enemies; they’re just my neighbors. But, Jesus commands his followers to actively love their enemies. He didn’t merely tell us to avoid retaliating against them — although that’s certainly included — he told us to love them. He’s not talking about just strangers or difficult neighbors. He’s talking about our enemies; people who act maliciously towards us to undermine our interests and well-being. And he even conditions our being the children of God on our learning this kind of love (See Matthew 5:45a).
When we read early-Christian writing, this command was one of the most prominently discussed teachings of Jesus. Writers saw in this the essential heart of God that must become his children. But, as time went on and Christians gained more political and worldly power, this teaching fell into near universal neglect. And, in the rare case that we do engage this text, we usually devote most of our time to “framing it in” so that we can justify our hatred for enemies. We write it off as impractical, idealistic, or meant only for private life. But, in modern political discourse — where outrage is a weapon and enemies must be humiliated — Christians have become so indistinguishable from the world that we are counted by demographers as simply another group among other groups. We justify harsh rhetoric, combative posturing, and us-versus-them mentalities, all while carrying Jesus’ name.
However, again, Jesus didn’t just say, “Tolerate your enemies” or even “Don’t stoop to their level.” He said love them. That means seeking their good. Praying for their hearts. Seeking their healing. Advocating for peace even when it’s costly.
This is not weakness — it’s the essential heart of the cross. And, if Christians wish to follow Jesus, they must learn how to embrace this heart and overcome evil, not with force, violence, or political dominance, but with sincere and pure good (See Romans 12:17–21). This is why Jesus taught his followers not to even resist the evil person (See Matthew 5:39), not so that they would be passive or silent in the face of evil, but so that they could learn to overcome evil his way. Put simply, Christians cannot overcome evil God’s way while simultaneously using worldly means; the cross is how God overcame evil. And this means that God’s Kingdom must choose the way of the Lamb over the way of the sword in its fight against evil. It means becoming peacemakers in a world ravaged by vengeance and power. It means standing with the persecuted, not weaponizing persecution for political gain. And it means sharing in the suffering of the afflicted, not just watching from a distance with moral outrage. It’s not enough to simply hate and conquer our enemies. We must love them.
We are fortunate that this example was set for us by the early church, which grew under persecution, not by fighting back, but by laying down their lives in love as they boldly bore witness to the truth of the gospel. We can follow their example if our desire for the redemption of our enemies outweighs our desire for cultural victory over them. We can learn to love our enemies when we want to save souls more than we want to win fights. Our hearts simply have to recover the truth that our enemies are the people Jesus died to save.
This command is hard, but it’s not optional. It is the road to the cross, and it is the way of the kingdom.
A Dedicated Faith 