What are you saying? I am not saying anything. I am merely repeating the Son of Man who taught us to love our enemies. When Jesus spoke these words, it was a paradigm shift in thought. Under the law, they had been taught the concept of an eye for an eye. In other words, they were taught to do unto the person who harmed you with the same harm in kind. They were accustomed to this manner of thinking. It did not require much out of them. People do not like change. Can you imagine what the people thought when they heard these revolutionary words, love your enemy? The very definition of an enemy implies someone who seek to hurt or harm you in some way.

Now Jesus is changing the tradition. You don’t have to get even with people who have hurt you. This change is more than letting it go. Jesus is saying not only let it go, but forget getting even altogether! Instead, love the people who have hurt you.

Many songs and poems have been written about feelings of love. Feelings are funny things; they sometimes come and go. We know there is an erotic kind of love, we know that there is a brotherly kind of love, and we know there is the love of God. God’s love is unconditional. God’s love for us is not based on anything we have ever done. Jesus once said that the law could be summed up in two commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as you love yourself. The only way anyone can really love an enemy is through God Himself. God’s love has to be inside of us in order for us to truly love. Jesus said, “How can you say you love me and hate your brother”? If we are new creations in Christ, then we are filled with His love.

Let me paint a picture in your mind of a beautiful creek with crystal clear waters, flowing down a mountain. The flow is wonderful to see and hear. Now imagine that a dam sits near the top of the mountain. The water no longer flows down the mountain. The stream bed becomes dry and all the life in it dies. There is no beautiful water to see and hear. There is nothing worth looking at, and the smell of dead fish is in the air. When we hate our enemies, we dam up God’s love inside of us. We become like that barren stream bed. There is nothing worthwhile in us and we do not pass the smell test.

God is telling us to trust in Him and he will protect us. God will deal with all of your enemies, if you let Him. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you! When we forgive and pray for our enemies, we are clean, we are set free, and we have God’s forgiveness. God said He would forgive us as we forgive others. Forgiveness, prayer, and love for our enemies are radical ways of living!

Saint Francis asked God to use him as an instrument of peace. Perhaps you can consider the same prayer and ask God to make you an instrument of peace. Jesus said that all peacemakers are blessed!

Remember the words of a song written some time ago, “What the world needs now is love sweet love”. The world has not changed. We still need God’s sweet love!