That’s the theme of numerous songs, movies, books, podcasts, sermons, and, of course, articles—including this one! And rightfully so. People feel intuitively that love is a powerful thing. We yearn for it and feel its lack intensely when we think we don’t have it. We hear of heroic efforts and sacrifices people make out of love for others—sometimes for those they don’t even know.

So why, when faced with an enemy, do we so often push love aside as a solution, believing aggression or violence to be the only option for overcoming a challenge to our or others’ well-being, safety, or rights—even though thinkers throughout history have insisted that love is the only thing that can actually save us?

Almost two thousand years ago, Christ Jesus said in his monumental Sermon on the Mount: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, 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; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:43–45). Centuries later, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his sermon titled “Loving Your Enemies,” cited Jesus’ admonition and added, “It is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.”