63｜Why You Must Love Your Enemies

Scripture says: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44). This is one of Jesus’ most "anti-human" commands—one that subverts worldly logic yet lies closest to the heart of the Kingdom. No other religion opposes revenge as thoroughly or demands love for enemies as Jesus does.

This article reveals:

• Why loving enemies is not weakness, but wisdom;
• Why an enemy can actually become an opportunity for your salvation;
• Why hating an enemy will only turn you into the very kind of person you hate most.

(1) Reason One: You Do Not Know if the Injury is "True Harm" or the "Beginning of Blessing"

We always assume: “He harmed me, therefore he is evil.” But humans see only the immediate pain; we cannot see the long-term result. In God’s perspective:

• Your "loss" may be a redirection away from a wrong path;
• Your "pain" may be the starting point of your spiritual awakening;
• Your current "brokenness" may be to make room for a greater grace. Jesus is reminding us: You do not have sufficient perspective to judge whether a single injury is a bad or good thing. The "liftoff" for many often begins with a job loss, a broken relationship, or a period of persecution. From this perspective, an enemy often pushes you out of your comfort zone toward your true direction sooner than a friend. Thus, you may very well be hating the person God is using to bless you.

(2) Reason Two: Enemies are Often Tools God Uses to Correct Our Lives

How does God correct a person? Not primarily through "man teaching man," but through "events teaching man." Because people may reject criticism, but they cannot deny reality. An enemy is "part of reality":

• They force you to leave wrong relationships or structures;
• They make you see your own blind spots and arrogance;
• They make you realize certain choices do not align with God’s heart;
• They force you to let go of your obsessions. From a spiritual perspective, the appearance of many enemies is essentially God’s "correction mechanism." Thus, many "injuries" are actually grace shaped like pain.

(3) Reason Three: Enemies are More Pitiful Than We Are—They are Controlled by Sin and Fear

If you look at the essence, you find that the most ferocious people are often the most deeply wounded and ignorant. For a few years of arrogance, they may pay an eternal price. An aggressor is not a strong person, but:

• Someone who lacked love from childhood;
• Someone who grew up humiliated and despised;
• Someone accustomed to living in scarcity, fear, and comparison;
• Someone firmly controlled by the Ego and Sin. Jesus’ prayer on the Cross revealed their true state: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). They do not know how sin will consume them, how hate will swallow their soul, or what end they are marching toward. Toward such people, mercy is closer to God’s heart than hatred.

(4) Reason Four: Hating Your Enemy is Punishing Yourself with Someone Else’s Sin

When you let hatred dwell in your heart:

• You allow the other person to continuously occupy your attention;
• You are forced to replay the injury repeatedly;
• You use another’s mistake to punish yourself over and over;
• You let the past lock up your present and future. If you choose revenge:
• You also harm others and create new victims;
• You become a link in the chain;
• You step-by-step become the very kind of person you loathe. You had already lost something, but if you choose hatred, you will lose even more: you will lose peace, joy, direction, and the heart of the Kingdom. Jesus wants us to lay down revenge not so we "lose out," but to release us from the prison of hatred.

Summary｜Original Doctrine 63

1. You do not know if a certain injury is purely bad or the starting point of a blessing.
2. God often uses enemies to correct the direction of our lives.
3. Enemies are essentially souls enslaved by sin and fear, needing mercy more than we do.
4. If we respond with hatred, we become like our enemies and lose true life.

In one sentence: Loving your enemy is the highest wisdom given by Jesus and the only way to free yourself from hatred.