Am I MORE than willing to love my enemy?

Throughout my many years of seeking to learn and apply Jesus’s teachings to my life, I’ve never been as challenged by or even as resistant to one of His commands, as I have been to the teaching to love my enemy.

Recorded in Matthew’s gospel, embedded within the clarifying, directive and arguably most important thread of instructions from Jesus on how humanity is to think, believe and act when aligned to God’s Way, are these verses…

”You have heard it said to ‘love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy, but I tell you to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives sunlight to the evil and good, and He sends rain on the just and unjust.”(Matt 5:43-45)

I’ve read this passage too many times to count, where I have allowed myself to be content with an admittedly brief sense of conviction, yet ultimately, a superficial acknowledgement that I should try to do better. Thoughts like, “If ever I face a true enemy, I’ll be willing to love them.” Or, “I can certainly agree to pray for my enemies, after all, they need divine help to see things my way.”

But then, when Russ and I agreed that on October 10, 2025 we would launch the Loverewriteshistory.com site and go public with the petition to make the same day an annually nationally recognized, Love Your Enemy Day, I knew that I would have to self reflect on my faithfulness and obedience to the intent of this command. I asked myself, “Am I more than just willing to love my enemy or am I merely tolerant of the idea?” And secondly, since I believe that to love God is to obey Him, and I truly desire to “act as a true child of my Father in heaven,” “How am I actively seeking to love my enemies?” In short, my conclusion was that I was not loving my enemies the way that I should be.

I’m familiar with the feelings that accompany the realization that I’ve fallen short of obedience. I’ve learned to process those emotions so that I am able to distinguish between conviction that is grace which will empower me to change and guilt that imprisons my mind and heart, attempting to deceive me into believing that I cannot change.

Therefore, I consciously choose to believe in the power of God’s forgiveness and the truth that God’s unconditional love for me is greater than my feelings. I then respond by confessing my shortcomings and trusting in the promise that I will be forgiven and enabled to act in a manner that God will mercifully accept. (1 John 1:9). I know that in the future I will not be perfect in obedience, but because of the application of God’s grace resulting from Jesus’ obedience, my efforts will be perfected.

Schwerin, Germany

NEXT STEPS….

For me to move from a passive acceptance of the command to love my enemies to active obedience, I must continue to meditate on the power of God’s love to transform me, and prayerfully seek God’s help through wisdom and courage.

I am presently asking myself the following questions and I intend to share my thoughts as I work through them in upcoming posts.

    •    Who are my enemies and why?

    •    Do they consider me their enemy?

    •    Do I believe my enemies are worthy of God’s love?

    •    What makes me worthy of God’s love?

    •    What does it mean to love an enemy?

    •    How will I actively love my enemies?

Thank you for visiting our site, considering to sign the petition, reading this post, and joining our social media.

Blessings🕊

Jeremy