Loving Our Enemies - Part 1

What could the love of our enemies mean? Well, first of all, it’s something that we imitate that is representative of God in his nature. We are fashioned in his image. Charity, or divine love, is precisely a form of friendship. Friendship is the first characterization of what it means to love God, to love one’s neighbor. Friendship means in some sense, an equality between the two.

God wants to draw us into a friendship with him which is truly stunning. So when our Lord says, “I no longer call you servants, but friends.” We realize what a high calling the life of grace is.

We’re not just good little creatures doing what God tells us to do. We become his intimates. We are those whom he’s drawn into his own life and we are taught how to treat our enemies because we are all made in the image and likeness of God.

We have been raised to this level of friendship with God, by God’s grace. And consequently, we’re not free to treat our enemies, as you might say, they deserve.