Just good deeds or genuine love?

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus counseled, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

And in an article titled “Love Your Enemies” (see “Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” pp. 8-13), Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, offers insight into this directive. She writes, for instance, “‘Love thine enemies’ is identical with ‘Thou hast no enemies,’” and “Simply count your enemy to be that which defiles, defaces, and dethrones the Christ-image that you should reflect.”

This is something we can all do by understanding and actively responding to the leadings of God – divine Principle, Love – the source and substance of all reality. Through Mary Baker Eddy’s thorough exploration of this topic, we see that the enemy is never a person. Instead, the enemy is whatever in thought would have us believe that there is any person, thing, or situation that can prevent us from seeing the Christ ideal in another – or in ourselves.

Self-condemnation, fear, self-righteousness, animosity, and uncertainty are all enemies; however, the trials accompanying those thoughts and sentiments ultimately lead us to turn to divine Love and prove God’s care. Christ, the spiritual and true idea of God, calls us to abandon our trust in or fear of material personalities and circumstances.

Forgiving our enemies would be a tall order if it weren’t for the fact that it is the Christ’s role to take us there – to take us safely from stormy thoughts to the fullness of loving our enemies.

I had the opportunity to prove this when I made a good-natured comment on social media that an acquaintance of mine misinterpreted. He texted me with some very biting comments. I attempted to defuse his anger with kind, apologetic words. But these were read as insincere, and even greater offense was taken! So I baked some cookies and gave them to him with a note of apology. The cookies were refused, and the hateful rhetoric aimed at me escalated.

I felt that I was trying to be what is generally considered “Christian.” But had I really been?

Jesus, whose life defines Christian love, healed situations through unselfed love and spiritual truth. Certainly, it was such inspiration that governed Jesus when he calmly walked through an angry crowd that was threatening to hurl him over a cliff (see Luke 4:28-30).

In my case, instead of seeking spiritual inspiration, I was merely trying to be nice.

Of course, there are times when gestures of goodwill are appropriate. But what I really needed to do in this situation was to be alert to self-righteousness in my thinking and exchange judgmentalism for a deeper understanding and sincere cherishing of the perfection of God and of His beloved spiritual offspring – made in His image.

In praying to truly forgive this acquaintance, I leaned on this passage from the Bible: “Such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (II Corinthians 3:4, 5). Christ is the healer – not some clever manipulation of a situation, however good our intentions. And we need to be willing to see others (and ourselves) as Jesus saw even those not living up to their innate goodness: as spiritual and perfect, like God, their Father-Mother.

I began to pray in this way every time this acquaintance came to thought.

What happened next felt like the Christ opening the way to reconciliation. During a clean-out project at work, I was offered a piece of equipment that related to a hobby this individual had. When I offered it to him, he couldn’t suppress his excitement and indicated that he would be so happy to have it. But he said he thought that accepting it would be like taking a bribe to remedy the rift between us.

I assured him that I would have offered him the equipment even before the misunderstanding. Overnight, his demeanor changed. The timing of this incident felt like a gift of grace resulting from a change of thought. It wasn’t that the equipment was a better gift than the cookies; it was the love and forgiveness the Christ gave us that made the difference. Now we easily exchange pleasantries whenever our paths cross.

My take-away from this experience was to not let superficially good deeds substitute for deep and genuine prayer, forgiveness, and – most of all – love.

Adapted from an article published on sentinel.christianscience.com, April 18, 2024.