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Questions & Answers

Love

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Youth, Dating and Friendship › Love

The question

I am having trouble discerning whom exactly we are to love and whom we are not to love. For example I know that we are to love God and our neighbor (Mark 12:31) (further explained in the parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37) and love our enemies (5:44).

However, I am still not sure regarding some circumstances. For example, if a person or group of people physically hurt a close member of your family or an innocent person in a serious way for no reason except that they are evil and wicked.
  1. How are we supposed to feel about such people?

  2. Must we love all human beings no matter what or how much evil they commit?

  3. How are we supposed to feel towards devils?

The answer

Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to love every one even our enemies. He loved and forgave those who mocked Him, struck Him, whipped Him, spat on Him and finally crucified Him. This is the example our Lord has given us. We should differentiate between loving a person and accepting his actions. We should not love sin nor tolerate it. However, we should love the sinners and pray for them that they may know the truth and the right way and come back to the Lord. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:3-4).

As for Satan, he is evil itself. We are called to love the sinners but not evil. That is why we cannot love Satan.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 1027 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.