Love your Enemies

"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. (Luke 6:27-29 ESV)

One of the best ways we as Christians can help fight against terrorism is to love those who may one day become a terrorist. You never know who a person is or may become, but we should all try our best to be kind and loving to other groups of people. Jesus would and does love them, if you love them and teach them about God and who he truly is, you may help save their life, as well as many others. I know its not always easy to accept someone of a different background, but we should at least try. Many in the Muslim faith believe in being peaceful and not in violence, it is only the extremist groups that skew religion and faith that cause harm. Christians also have done this throughout history; we are not the judges over all mankind that title is left to Jesus.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
(Matthew 7:3-5, NIV)

Applying this verse to the above, I think that we should look at how we act as Christians, before we condemn and shun the people of other faiths. God created them just as much as he created us, but they were lead astray by false prophets, teachers, and leaders. I know that I need to apply this way of thinking more and more in my own life. There are times where I see a person, and Satan just attacks my mind and says they are bad, they could be a terrorist, and they don’t have the same morals. But Jesus says they are one of my created beings, love them, guide them back to my heart. Take the plank out of your eye, so that you may be able to see that they are not the enemy.

Jesus showed us to embrace those outside of cultural views in the story with the woman at the well and with the story of the Good Samaritan. Around the New Testament times (1) both Jewish and Samaritan religious leaders taught that it was wrong to have any contact with the opposite group, and neither was to enter each other's territories or even to speak to one another.

So for Jesus a Jew by birth to go through the land of the Samaritans, and then speak to a Samaritan and speak of Samaritans, would have outraged the Jewish leaders. But Jesus knew that all people were created in the image of God, by and through Him.

(1) Mark A. Powell, "Introduction the New Testament" 'Ch.01 The People of Palestine at the Time of Jesus', Baker Academic, 2009.