LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

Learning to Love our Enemies

Love is in the air!

Love is often associated with a warm, fuzzy feeling and, more often than not, it is linked to the heart. We see it expressed in the colour red—think heat, warmth and flames. It is like something burning within our hearts, or an arrow from Cupid.

Yet love is also about softness and tenderness: a gentle butterfly, a light breeze, roses, or something joyful, happy and light as a feather.

On Valentine’s Day, this love is in full bloom. The idea is everywhere, displayed in almost every shop window. You cannot help but feel it and agree: love really is in the air!

This is the love we see and are constantly surrounded by in popular culture.

Interestingly, the Bible also speaks about love with this kind of tenderness. Just read the Song of Solomon and you will see the celebration of love in all its beauty.

Consider these verses:

“Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes…”

— Song of Solomon 4:9 KJV

Yes, you read that right—“ravished!” It is right there in our Holy Bible.

“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.”

— Song of Solomon 6:3 KJV

“Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.”

— Song of Solomon 4:7 KJV

“I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go…”

— Song of Solomon 3:4 KJV

These could easily be lines from a famous Valentine’s Hallmark card!

But love is about more than grand declarations and fiery passion.

There are also all the other wonderful things love does—less lovey-dovey, perhaps, and not quite as bright and red-hot.

There is the level-headed side of love.

Paul tells us:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”

— 1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV

But that is not our focus today—not the hot, fiery love of romance, or even the level-headed love Paul describes to the Corinthians.

Today, let us consider the kind of love that asks us to go even further:

Loving Our Enemies

Perhaps this is the hardest kind of love to practise and even to understand.

Let us be honest. How do we love people who have deeply wounded us? How do we love people who have done terrible things?

The New Testament speaks clearly about loving our enemies.

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us exactly how we are to treat them.

Let us take a closer look at Jesus’ words.

Jesus begins with a principle they already knew:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’”

— Matthew 5:38 NIV

This principle is found in the Old Testament in Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21.

But Jesus says:

“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

— Matthew 5:39 NIV

And then He takes the teaching even further.

It is worth reading His words in full:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

— Matthew 5:43–48 NIV

Notice Jesus’ call:

“That you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

Jesus is saying that if we are to live as children of our Father in heaven, our love cannot be limited only to those who love us. We must learn to love even our enemies—even those who persecute us.

Why?

Because—

God Is Love

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God… He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

— 1 John 4:7–8 KJV

And if we are His sons and daughters, then our lives should reflect His love.

Jesus shows us what God's love looks like, saying:

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

— Matthew 5:45 NIV

So we are called not only to love those who love us, but somehow to extend love even to those who mistreat us.

Hmmm...

Most of us would agree: loving those who hurt or persecute us is incredibly hard.

How do you love someone who harms children, hurts widows, takes from the poor, murders the innocent, sows division or steals from you?

What about people who use their power for evil?

What about those who deliberately wish us harm?

What kind of love is Jesus talking about?

Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek. He tells us to pray for those who persecute us. Luke tells us to “do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27).

But what does this really mean?

Are we supposed to forgive all the hurt and allow people—especially those who are unrepentant—to continue hurting us?

Does loving an enemy mean there are no consequences?

Does forgiveness mean pretending nothing happened?

Surely not.

Yet Jesus still says:

Love.

Jesus’ teaching suggests that there is something powerful and freeing in turning the other cheek, loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us.

Psychology also tells us that holding on to anger, bitterness and resentment can take a toll on our health. Forgiveness does not change what happened, but it can free us from carrying the weight of what someone else has done.

Still, the question remains:

How can this be done? How can we love those who persecute us and the people we care about?

How Can We Possibly Do This?

If Jesus commands it, then it must be possible.

And He showed us Himself.

At the end of His earthly life, while being tormented, mocked and crucified, Jesus prayed for His persecutors:

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

— Luke 23:34 KJV

What does this mean—that they do not know what they are doing?

Surely the people crucifying Jesus knew what they were doing. They were carrying out the crucifixion.

Yet somehow Jesus could look beyond what they were doing and still say:

“Father, forgive them.”

How?

Perhaps there is something for us to learn here.

Emmett Fox offers an interesting thought. When someone behaves badly, instead of concentrating entirely on the wrongdoing, he suggests shifting our attention from what we see in the person and turning our minds towards God—to look for the spiritual person God created.

Perhaps there is something about finding the God in the person.

Not pretending that what they have done is good.

Not excusing evil.

Not denying our pain.

But remembering that before us is still a human being created by God—a person who may have lost their way and made terrible choices.

Perhaps seeing the person through that lens helps us look beyond the difficult thing they have done.

There must be something about seeing beyond the offence that makes it possible to forgive instead of curse.

And there are people who have somehow managed to do just that—to look beyond a terrible offence and still see the human being God created.

Let us consider one.

A Mother Who Chose to Forgive

Consider the story of Mary Johnson-Roy.

In 1993, her 20-year-old son, Laramiun Byrd, was shot and killed by 16-year-old Oshea Israel during an argument in Minneapolis.

Israel was convicted and went to prison.

For years, Mary carried enormous anger and hatred towards the young man who had killed her son.

Then, about twelve years later, prompted by her faith and her desire to forgive, she asked to meet him in prison.

Eventually, Mary forgave him.

After Israel was released from prison, their relationship became so remarkable that they became neighbours for a time. Mary would eventually describe loving him like a son.

Forgiveness did not erase the consequences of Israel's actions—he went to prison for his crime.

But Mary could choose not to spend the rest of her life carrying hatred for him.

Letting Go

A friend of mine was once hit by a car and almost lost her leg.

For many months, she was in and out of the hospital. She was understandably resentful of the driver. Whenever she told the story, she would often curse him for all the pain and frustration she was going through.

Then one day, she told me that she had a dream in which someone told her that she had to let go of the hurt caused by the driver; otherwise, she would not recover from the harm done to her leg.

And so she did.

Something changed.

Today, she is on her feet—a recovery that, at one point, even the doctors thought was unlikely.

So there might be something worth paying attention to here.

Holding on to hatred does not undo what happened.

Sometimes the person we imprison with bitterness is ourselves.

But What About Evil?

But what about things that are outright evil?

What about someone kidnapping a two- or three-year-old child from daycare?

What about murder, abuse, exploitation or cruelty?

What about witchcraft and other evil actions?

Where is the place for loving that neighbour?

The Lord still says:

Love. Love. And love some more.

But loving someone does not absolve that person of responsibility for what they have done.

Jesus does not say that people should go scot-free or that evil should have no consequences.

Jesus Himself confronted wrongdoing. When He found people buying and selling in His Father's house, He drove them out of the temple.

John tells us:

“So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts…”

— John 2:15 NIV

So perhaps we must learn to separate loving the person from approving the behaviour. We can love the sinner and hate the sin.

We can remember that the person before us is God's creation while completely rejecting the evil they have chosen to do.

Scripture itself tells us:

“Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”

— Romans 12:9 NIV

Perhaps this is what we learn from all this:

Love can coexist with justice.

Love can coexist with consequences.

Love can coexist with healthy boundaries.

We can forgive and still tell the truth.

We can forgive and still report a crime.

We can love someone and still protect ourselves and others from them.

And above all, we can leave judgment and vengeance with God.

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.”

— Romans 12:19 NIV

So What Does Love Do?

The Bible gives us practical guidance through Jesus’ teachings.

A — Love Prays

The Bible says:

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

— Matthew 5:44 NIV

Like Jesus, we can pray, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

But praying for the person does not mean that we cannot also pray against the evil being done.

The Bible says:

“And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith.”

— 2 Thessalonians 3:2 NIV

We can pray for the person while asking God to stop the evil.

B — Love Blesses

The Bible says:

“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

— Luke 6:28 NIV

We bless not because what has been done to us is good.

But rather than answering a curse with another curse, we choose to bless.

As we saw with my friend, perhaps there is also something freeing in refusing to continue carrying the hurt within us.

C — Love Does Good

Jesus says:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

— Luke 6:27 NIV

We saw this in the story of Mary Johnson-Roy and Oshea Israel. Mary did not only say that she had forgiven him. After his release, she opened her heart to his rehabilitation, even helping him find a place to live nearby.

And in the process, the man who had once taken her son became someone she would eventually love like a son.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

— Romans 12:21 NIV

D — Love Forgives

Love forgives because in doing so we fulfil God's command to love.

And because we too have received forgiveness from God.

The Bible says:

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

— Ephesians 4:32 NIV

Our Lord's Prayer echoes the same principle:

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

— Matthew 6:12 NIV

We forgive not because the offence was insignificant.

Not because the person necessarily deserves it.

But because God has forgiven us—and because sometimes forgiveness is where our own healing begins.

E — Love Does Not Seek Revenge

The Bible says about vengeance:

“It is mine to avenge; I will repay.”

— Hebrews 10:30 NIV

Love does not seek personal revenge or try to avenge what has been done to us.

That does not mean there should be no justice or consequences. It means we do not allow vengeance to become ours to carry.

We leave vengeance in God's hands.

Overcome Evil with Good

Perhaps this is why loving our enemies is one of the clearest demonstrations that we belong to God.

Jesus asks:

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?”

It is easy to love the person who loves us. As Jesus points out, even the tax collectors do that.

But loving our enemies takes us beyond ordinary human love.

And in doing so, we reflect the love of our Father and show ourselves to be His children.

As You Go About Your Day...

Think about the people in your life—not only those who are easy to love, but also those who are difficult.

Ask yourself:

Am I angry at someone? What anger can I release so I can release myself?

What steps can I take to begin to love my neighbour as myself?

What prayer can I say today for someone who has hurt me?

May the Lord of compassion give us understanding and grace to love as He has called us to love, in Jesus Christ's name.