Here Jesus greatly expands the field on which our love is to operate. Love is not limited to God, yourself, your family, or your church. It must be freely extended to everyone you encounter. No longer must you confine your love only to those who love you and can repay it; it must be given even to those who can never repay it.

Peter Kreeft observes that godly love changes the rules for loving one another. We don’t worry about the results because we have no motive other than to spread the love that God has given to us. We are not manipulating or trying to earn points or even loving for our own personal gratification. We are simply treating others in the light of how God sees them. We can love “from sheer bounty, just as we have been loved. We become channels of this new living water.”10

The apostle Paul knew just how critical loving our neighbor is to the authenticity of our Christian life. He twice repeated Jesus’ command in his letters. To the Romans he wrote, “He who loves another has fulfilled the law… ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Romans 13:8–9). And to the Galatians, he stressed the overarching importance of this command: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Galatians 5:14).

Because God Loves Us, We Can Love Our Enemies

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven… Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

—MATTHEW 5:43–45, 48

In this chapter, we’ve seen the circle of love expand step-by-step. First, we love God, then ourselves, then our fellow believers, and then our neighbors. Now Jesus tells us to take one more step and love our enemies. This is where it gets interesting. For many, it’s a step too far.

Knowing the difficulty in loving our enemies, Jesus gives us an excellent rationale for the command. He says that if we love only our friends and family, we are no different from unbelievers who don’t know Jesus or His commandments. What we can offer that they cannot is love for our enemies.

If I knew the name of your worst enemy and suggested that you go serve that person in some good way, you might say, “I just can’t!” But Jesus knows it can be done because He did it. He found a way to love that race of enemies known as humanity, and we must be eternally grateful that He did.