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Loving Your Enemies

Loving Your EnemiesThe following is an excerpt from a Sermon delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL – November 17, 1957. Let it be a reminder to love one another.

Martin Luther King, Jr. says “Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have the opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love.

In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.”
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