“To love, to do good deeds, to pray…” Matthew 5:43

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus proposes these three actions when it comes to facing our enemies: Love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, pray for those who persecute us.

These are three actions that place us outside of hatred, anger, and revenge. Love for our enemies places us outside the warlike attitudes that waste our energies. Doing good to those who hate us will allow us to rise above the contempt of others and place ourselves in the understanding of human beings as a fellow human being, significant, and worthy of goodness. Praying for those who persecute us is so that God will disclose to them a different life where a change of heart is fundamental.

For this reason, it is important to continue asking ourselves with the question that Jesus addresses to his disciples: if we only love those who love us, what merit will we have?