Isn’t calling people “enemies” part of the problem? Isn’t this dehumanizing someone? Putting someone into that “other” group? Labeling someone so they stay over “there” to help you feel a bit safer?

Jesus famously taught: You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Matthew 5:43-45.

When Jesus uses the word enemy, he’s not telling us to slap labels on people or strip away their humanity. We are not justified to do this so we know who are enemies are. Jesus acknowledges that we do have enemies. People who oppose truth and should not be our touchstone for what is right, noble, good, and pure. We will have people in our lives who have different values than us. Who have a different moral code. This is a real part of the human experience.

We do have a need to judge people. Judgment is making an evaluation of a situation. Is this person trustworthy? Is this relationship healthy? Is my child safe with this adult? Justice requires moral judgment. But discernment is different from dehumanization. We can recognize someone’s actions as harmful without deciding they are beyond God’s love.

Our culture uses labels to create distance. Once someone becomes “one of them”—an enemy, a liberal, a conservative, an immigrant, an elitist, a fundamentalist, a socialist, an extremist—it becomes much easier to stop seeing a person and start seeing a category.

Jesus doesn’t pretend enemies don’t exist. He acknowledges that some people oppose truth, hurt us, persecute us, or live by a different moral code. Discernment is part of wisdom. But then Jesus does something remarkable: Jesus refuses to let the label determine our response.

When Jesus says, “Love your enemies,” He redefines the word “enemy.” An enemy is no longer someone you are permitted to hate. An enemy is someone you are called to love.

Jesus doesn’t remove the category. He transforms what the category demands of us.

Friend or enemy, our response should be the same: love.

Jesus takes this one step further–Jesus defines enemy as not someone you are allowed hate but someone you are called to love and pray for.

When is the last time you prayed for your enemy? When is the last time you prayed for what scares you and prayed for the person or the people involved?

Labeling someone as an enemy actually serves as a reminder for us to run towards them when avoidance is preferable, and to pursue them with kindness when rudeness feels more natural.

So the term “enemy” isn’t meant to dehumanize. It’s meant to expose our natural tendency to divide and retaliate. Jesus takes that very word and turns it into an opportunity for radical love. By loving enemies, we refuse to let the label define the person. We see them the way God does: still worthy of love, still under his sun and rain, still human.

God’s generosity is, For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Matthew 5:45.

How does God’s generosity to everyone challenge the way we normally treat people?

Loving our friends is natural. Loving our enemies takes a bit more, right? That’s why Jesus gave this command. Anyone can love people who agree with them. Anyone can be generous toward people who are generous back. But we are challenged to pray for those who wound you; refuse to dehumanize those who oppose you; extend kindness where retaliation would be easier. That is the kind of life that makes the world ask, “What kind of God creates people who love like that?” (Doesn’t that sound like something Jesus would teach to change the world?)

A safe faith does not inspire. A safe faith does not lead to awe-inspiring moments. A safe faith does not remind you of Jesus.

Consider these brave thoughts to help you lead a braver life.