It’s OK to have enemies. When Jesus said to love our enemies, He was assuming we have them. There are two kinds of enemies lists. One kind lists the people you really don’t like or those who have hurt or maligned you. That list includes names like “Jack, Barbara, Sam…”

The other kind of enemies list has no personal names. It has descriptions of people, most of whom you have never met and don’t  know. That list contains categories of people like “Democrats, conservatives, gays, Black women, white men, rich people, immigrants, Muslims”, etc. In the time of Jesus, it could have read “Jews, slaves, Greeks, Scythians, Barbarians males, or females” (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11).

I believe Jesus would ask that you love those on the first kind of list, but He would tell you to tear up that second list, because it wouldn’t be reasonable to ask you to love everyone in the specific categories of people you consider to be your enemy. I believe He would tell you to simply love all humanity by default and then make a list of those you really need to work on loving more. Paul wrote that we are all one in Jesus Christ, regardless of our membership in any category or identity group.

It isn’t easy being a Christian, and it was never supposed to be. God asks us to do and be more than we can easily do and be. We cannot totally succeed, but we can try as much as possible. And if we do, we must have faith that that will be enough. So let’s tear up our categorical enemies lists, and see everyone as Jesus did, human beings worthy of love.