Last week I wrote about my father, a WWII veteran. There are other veterans among my relatives, but some of them fought on “the other side.”  One of my grandfather’s brothers-in-law served in the Romanian Army which joined with the German Army in the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Although Romania eventually joined the Allies, it was too late for my great-uncle Josef who had been captured and died in a communist concentration camp.

The story has long troubled me. The relatives in Romania were not strangers to us. My mother visited them in 1937, and some of them visited us in the US. I want to think kindly of my family and tell myself my uncle probably didn’t have much choice in the matter. However, I am aware that the Romanian Army participated in the Holocaust murdering nearly 400,000 Jews. Can following orders justify that?

This isn’t resolved in my mind. How do I regard an enemy within my own family? The answer is the same way as Jesus taught us to regard any enemy: “ Love your enemies” (Luke 6:27). The command is absolute. Love your enemies no matter if they are relatives, friends, or absolute strangers.

How much better life would be in families, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools and organizations (including churches) if we never turned to hate. Would we ever go to war again if everyone loved their enemies? Would there even be enemies?

I’ve concluded I can never listen to someone who tells me to hate our enemies because Jesus taught us the opposite.

Read Luke 6:27-31 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne