Midnight Meditation Concerning a Biblical Understanding of Our Enemies

I wonder if Christ’s command to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) means that we are not supposed to be false to them by ignoring why they are our enemies in the first place.

I wonder if it means speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) even if it brings everyone discomfort.

I wonder if loving our enemies includes, at times, speaking the wounding words of a friend rather than giving the deceitful “kisses” of an actual enemy. (Proverbs 27:6)

I wonder if loving our enemies looks like standing in complete opposition to them until they repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ. If we are supposed to forgive as our Heavenly Father has forgiven us, (Ephesians 4:32) I wonder if we aren’t supposed to dole out cheap forgiveness without our enemies’ true repentance, for God only forgives those who humble themselves in true repentance.

I wonder if our modern Christian culture has misrepresented loving our enemies as being nice when, in actuality, being nice is the most unloving act we could do.

Maybe our confrontation, or at least our not pretending that everything is okay, is true Christ-like love rather than going belly up like a whipped dog. Perhaps standing strong is the only real way we are supposed to love our enemies.

I wonder if turning the other cheek is our not getting caught up all the peripheral distractions our enemies try to throw at us to keep us from confronting the real reasons we are enemies in the first place.