Why should we love our enemies? The first reason is fairly obvious. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that…
Another reason why we must love our enemies is that hate scars the soul and distorts the personality. Mindful that hate is an evil and dangerous force, we too often think of what it does to the person hated. This is understandable, for hate brings irreparable damage to its victims…
But there is another side which we must never overlook. Hate is just as injurious to the person who hates. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity….
A third reason why we should love our enemies is that love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. … By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power.
-Martin Luther King, Jr. Christmas 1957, Montgomery Alabama
Be Gracious