![]() He never joined the ranks of those who talk glibly about the easiness of the moral life. I am certain that Jesus understood the difficulty inherent in the act of loving one’s enemy. Jesus is not an impractical idealist: he is the practical realist. Love even for enemies is the key to the solution of the problems of our world. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to love one’s enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival. ![]() Upheaval after upheaval has reminded us that modern humanity is traveling along a road called hate, in a journey that will bring us to destruction. This command of Jesus challenges us with new urgency. It is easy, they say, to love those who love you, but how can one love those who openly and insidiously seek to defeat you?. Probably no admonition of Jesus has been more difficult to follow than the command to “love your enemies.” Some people have sincerely felt that its actual practice is not possible. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. ![]() When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. ![]() This passage is an excerpt from King’s sermon “Loving Your Enemies.” He wrestled practically and at great cost with how to love his enemies, both through prayer and through nonviolent direct action. This was not an abstract theological question for Dr. In the United States few public figures have spoken more plainly and powerfully about Jesus’ teaching to love our enemies than the Reverend Dr. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ But I say unto you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. ![]()
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