Yes! We know as Christians we must. Jesus said it in Matthew 5. But what does that mean? Am I to feel emotionally warm and fuzzy about someone who is my enemy? No. I am to love(agape) them. What is Agape love? It’s love that only a believer is capable of. We see it described exactly in 1 Corinthians 13. “Love is patient, kind, doesn’t envy or boast, isn’t proud or rude, doesn’t think of itself, isn’t easily offended, it thinks no evil, doesn’t rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth, it bears, believes and hopes and endures all things ( bears, believes and hopes and endures the best, in other words). Love, that is agape, never fails.
So, toward my enemy I can, if I am an obedient believer, be patient, kind, not envy , not boast, not be rude but believe, hope endure the very best and think no evil. This is how to love an enemy, and is what it means to love an enemy.
Now Psalm 15 says this: “Who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He who walks up rightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. He who doesn’t backbite with his tongue (talking behind someone’s back, always cutting them down and imagining evil), nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile ( rejected, reprobate) person is contemned (despised). But he honors those that fear the LORD. He that swears even to his own hurt but still changes not. He who puts not his money out for usery, nor takes reward against the innocent. He that does these things shall never be moved”.
So here we see a description of who will dwell with God in His tabernacle. I believe this is describing those who will dwell in New Jerusalem in eternity and not on the new earth only. I’ll expound on that in next article.
Here are exactly what requirements there are. One of them is a person who despises the vile person.
But we are told to love our enemies. Which is true? Both. Here’s why…
Treating someone who has personally offended me with love has nothing to do with despising evil.
I can love my enemy remember, by being patient, kind, not envying, not boasting, not being rude and believing the best and imagining no evil, etc, but at the same time I must despise that which is evil. I can do both.
I should always, as a believer, hate evil because God hates evil. The word even tells us He hates the evil doer. But evil doer here refers to the lost and God rejecting forever, not to the lost sheep.
My enemy could very well be a lost sheep.
So there are no contradictions in the Bible, just profound truth for the one who cares to find out God’s heart.
If I see a gross offender who is vile in every way and savoring evil and harming others without an ounce of remorse, but joy in it, do I despise the evil? Yes! Do I despise the person, as the word says, as long as the person is in the evil doing and loving it? Yes. Am I to love that enemy with kindness , patience, etc? Yes, because I am to always be kind, patient, hoping the best. And God loved me when I was His enemy.
This also is referring to a state of mind, toward a state of being, as well. MY enemy is very personal. A generally vile person might not be known to me personally. God is reasonable. Everything He says always resonates as true to the heart that seeks truth.
Bless You Lord.