The well-known British author C. S. Lewis was asked one time, “What sets Christianity apart from all the world’s major religions?” Mr. Lewis responded quickly: Christianity is the only one that declares, “love your enemies.”

These were the words of Jesus, in Matthew, chapter 5, verses 43-44, as He preached the Sermon on the Mount on a hillside by the Sea of Galilee centuries ago. Jesus went on to say that we are to pray for our enemies.

The apostle Paul expanded on the treatment of enemies when he quoted the Old Testament book of Proverbs, chapter 25, as he wrote the epistle to the Romans, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink (Romans 12:20).”

This might break down quickly in cases where an enemy is a combatant either in war or personal assault. In these cases, there is an element of self-defense, but as soon as the threat is past, we must quickly come to the aid of one who was an enemy. We bind up their wounds and make every effort to ensure their continued good. This was the case after World War II when the U.S.A. went to the aid of both Germany and Japan and helped them rebuild their countries after horrible wars.

Back to the personal arena. There have been several Christian missionary couples who left the friendly confines of America and planted themselves and their families in hostile environments in the jungles of South America and New Guinea.

Two stand out.

The first was Jim and Elisabeth Elliot who desired to share the gospel with a remote Indian tribe. The Indians brutally murdered the men of this missionary party. The wives were now widows. They could choose to pack up, move back to the states and nurse their grief, or they could turn the pain of personal loss into a genuine love for these Indians and continue to love them, even as enemies, and eventually see them come to a saving knowledge of Christ. They did the latter.

The second was Phil and Phyllis Masters in New Guinea. Phil was killed by members of a native tribe. His body was never found, but Phyllis stayed on and continued to minister to the very people suspected of killing her husband.

You may not be a missionary, and you may not have faced such extreme circumstances, but all of us can seek to truly love the driver who just cut us off in traffic, or the neighbor who plays loud music late at night, or even a family member who has hurt us deeply. We do not just turn the other cheek, we move past that and actively seek to genuinely meet the needs of that person or group of people that vehemently disagrees with us or has actually hurt us.

Jesus takes us one step past mere forgiveness. He wants us to invest our lives to make enemies into friends.

Dan Puckett works with road team operations at Life Action Ministries in Buchanan, Michigan.