An enemy is an adversary that hates another, wishes the other injury, and attempts to do him damage to gratify his malice or ill will. This definition comes from Noah Webster in his American Dictionary of the English Language.

The Scriptures show what an enemy is by showing us what they do. Enemies curse, hate, threaten, abuse, mistreat, hinder every movement towards progress, insult, slander, and will even destroy a person’s livelihood with deception if possible.

As believers living in this world, we may develop some enemies. It’s the worst thing that could happen to our relationships. The very personification of an enemy is Satan, who so hates God that he does everything mentioned above. These people dedicate themselves to your destruction and that of your family.

An enemy is not an apathetic person or one who barely knows you are alive. Enemies focus on you and your destruction.

How does God want me to treat them? We should never repay their evil by doing evil to them; that’s the first response. Their evil works will not conquer us.

Christians do more than fake love. Sometimes love is such a slick word; it gets shared repeatedly, but nothing backs up the word. Christians are not to seek vengeance or to get even with their enemies. They go the extra mile if they’re told to do something they don’t like. So if slapped on one cheek, they turn the other.

The believer meets the needs of his enemy. When the enemy wants to hurt the believer, the believer responds with help. The believer will feed his enemy when he is hungry; he will give him to drink when he is thirsty.

The believer will bless and pray for their enemy even if they are suffering persecution at his hands. It will not surprise the believer that they have enemies because they realize Jesus had enemies that hated Him and wanted to destroy Him.

To top that off, Jesus commanded us to love our enemies. This causes us to think about what it means to love them. What is love? It is not an emotion, but an action. We saw a little of it expressed when we heaped coals of fire on their head by giving them to drink and feeding them. What else does love entail?

Love means that the believer stops looking to stir up strife and keep the problem going, but in love, wants to cover up the failure, to put it behind them. It means ignoring the insult. It means trying to stop the spread of sin and its results—time to put it behind us.

Love would mean that our word choice would change. The believer would use soft and kind words. Moving past the hurt and seeking love is the very expression of love. There won’t be a desire to tell others what has happened. Love closes the mouth and stops the gossip.

Love says we will not even rejoice to see our enemy, the one who has done us so much damage, fall or fail. Instead, we respond with great kindness. We seek to show kindness to everyone.

The believer does things differently than an enemy would. Even in the Old Testament, the believer was to help his enemy with his ox or ass. He was to help and not cause or allow him to suffer financial harm when he could stop it. Believers do not return cursing for cursing or evil for evil, but blessings for the enemy.

A believer doesn’t stoop to the level of their enemy. We are children of the loving, gracious, and kind God.

How will I treat my Christian brother if I treat an enemy this way? Considering how you would treat the person who wants to destroy you might affect your thoughts about others and your relationships with them.

This much we know, we will have to change our attitude. Our goal is to live peacefully with all men, even our enemies. Believers are not to hold on to bitterness or a grudge. As believers, we know we are even to help our enemies. They should be treated like we would want to be treated.

We will have enemies because we’re not of this world. They hated Jesus, and they will hate us. If we don't fit into their mold, they will be upset. They accuse us of following Jesus so that we are intolerant.

Our enemy expects us to do the opposite of what we are doing. When they are bad, we are good. We love when they hate. They hold grudges, and we forgive. We will rejoice in their successes. When they hurt, we will hurt for them.

We will not act superior or elite towards anyone. Our obedience will affect the way we treat those that hate us. Believers choose to serve. His command for all believers is to die to ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.