Love Your Enemies - Really?

Matthew 5:44 - "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."

Now this is where Jesus gets really radical. He doesn't just tell us to endure persecution - He tells us how to respond to our persecutors. Love them. Bless them. Do good to them. Pray for them.

Stephen modeled this perfectly in the Book of Acts. He became the first martyr of the first-century church, stoned to death for preaching the gospel. But notice what happened during his persecution. Just before they began picking up stones to throw at him, Stephen looked up and said, "I see heaven opened up. I see Jesus standing" (see Acts 7:56). While he was being martyred, Stephen saw Jesus standing, which signifies acceptance, defense, interest, and ultimately welcoming Stephen into heaven.

The persecution intensified, and yet the love of Christ began to show forth from Stephen. And what was Stephen saying while they were stoning him to death? "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they do" (Acts 7:60).

Notice Stephen didn't retaliate, and believers today shouldn't retaliate either. If you're a child of God, you're to reflect Jesus like Stephen did. When Jesus was crucified, what did He say? "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they do" (Luke 23:34). Even to the point where one of the soldiers looked up and said, "Surely this man is the Son of God" (Mark 15:39).

But perhaps no story illustrates this radical love better than that of Dmitri, a factory worker who became pastor of a small house church in Soviet Russia.¹ During the communist takeover, he watched as the new government destroyed churches and killed pastors. By the time he was a grown man, the nearest church was a three-day walk away.

Concerned that his sons were growing up without learning about Jesus, Dmitri told his wife, "Let's gather our family together one night a week. I will read and explain to them the Bible stories we used to learn in church." Soon, the boys began taking turns telling the stories and asking to sing church songs. It seemed natural to pray together as well.

The village was small and the walls thin. Neighbors heard what was happening and asked to join. When the group grew to 25 people, the authorities threatened Dmitri. When it reached 50, Dmitri was fired from the factory, and his wife lost her teaching job. Their sons were expelled from school. When 75 people crowded into their home, sitting cheek to cheek with others around the windows outside, an officer came and roughed up Dmitri, threatening worse.

A tiny old grandmother stood up, waved her finger at the officer's face, and declared, "You have laid hands on a man of God, and you will not survive!" Three days later, the officer died of a heart attack. Fear of God swept through the village, and 150 people showed up at the next meeting. The authorities couldn't let this continue.

One night, communist officials burst into his home during worship and arrested him. They sent him to prison for 17 years, more than 600 miles from his family. His cell was so tiny he could cover its distance in a single step to the door, a single step to the sink, and a single step to the toilet. Among 1500 hardened criminals, he was the only believer.

Two spiritual disciplines, passed down from his father and grandfather, kept Dmitri's faith strong through the horrific prison conditions. Every morning at daybreak, Dmitri would rise, face east, and stand at the bars of his prison cell. With arms raised as high as he could reach, he would sing a heart song to Jesus. The 1500 angry criminals reacted with disgust - jeering, banging cups and bars, throwing catcalls, food, human waste, and garbage at him, rattling metal cups on their cages trying to drown him out. Dmitri continued anyway.

His second discipline: whenever he found a scrap of paper in the prison yard, he'd sneak it to his cell and write whatever Bible verses, Bible stories, or scriptural songs he could remember with pencil stubs or charcoal. At the edge of his cell stood a concrete pillar that constantly dripped water. Dmitri would stick his papers as high as possible on that wet pillar - his praise offering to Jesus. Other prisoners did the same, but usually with secular messages, the names of girlfriends, or curses. When guards saw the biblical content, they would tear the paper into shreds, beat Dmitri, and throw him around. But he persisted.

The prison guards tortured Dmitri physically and psychologically, even convincing him that men had raped and murdered his wife. Finally broken, he said, "My wife's dead. I don't know where my boys are. God, I can't do this anymore." He offered to sign whatever confession they wanted - first, that he was not a follower of Jesus Christ, and second, that Western governments paid him to overthrow the Soviet Union.

But that night, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, Dmitri's wife, brother, and three sons sensed he was in trouble and gathered to pray for him. Dmitri heard their voices through the miraculous power of the Spirit, knowing his family was alive and had remained faithful to God. The next morning, when the officers brought the document for him to sign, he was a renewed man. "I know that you lied to me," he told them. "My wife and sons are still alive, and they're still in Christ. I will not sign your paper."

After years of trying everything, the guards despaired. "We've tried everything, and nothing stops you from singing those stupid songs." They explained their intent to execute him: "In 15 minutes, you're going to be tied to that post. In 20 minutes, you're going to be shot dead. We're done with you."

They dragged him from his cell down the concrete corridor toward the execution yard. But as they reached the door, something amazing happened. All 1500 hardened criminals stood at attention outside their cells. With arms raised in praise, facing east, they began to sing those heart songs they had heard Dmitri sing all those years.

The guards, in sheer terror, let go of Dmitri and jumped away from him. "Who are you?" they asked.

"I am a son of the living God," Dmitri replied. "And Jesus is his name."

The rest of the story reveals God's incredible faithfulness. Years later, Dmitri's son became the chaplain of the very prison that held his father for 17 years, continuing his father's legacy in that same place of suffering.

Blessed are you, Dmitri. Through loving his enemies - refusing to retaliate, singing praise while being mocked, and maintaining his faith despite torture - he made an impact that could not have been achieved otherwise. Love transformed an entire prison and continues transforming lives today.

We may never experience persecution like Stephen or Dmitri, but when we face opposition for our faith—whether it's mockery at work, rejection by family, or pressure to stay silent about our beliefs—we have the same choice they did: retaliate or love. The world is watching to see if our faith is real enough to love those who oppose us, and that love may be the very thing God uses to transform their hearts.

Reflection Questions: Is there someone who has opposed you for your faith that you need to love and pray for? How can you reflect Jesus to those who persecute you? What would it look like to sing your "heart song" even when others are mocking?

Jesus, this is hard. You're asking me to love those who oppose me, to pray for those who persecute me. Give me Your heart for my enemies. Help me to reflect You, especially when it's difficult. May my response to persecution draw others to You. In Jesus' Name, amen.

¹ Dmitri's story is taken from two sources: https://nikripken.com/insanity-god-dmitris-story and https://thedockforlearning.org/dmitri-a-man-who-praised-when-it-could-have-killed-him/

Adapted from "Believers Under Fire" (Matthew 5:10-12): https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/7p55s6j/8-believers-under-fire