Martin Luther King Jr. Speeches

Dr. King spoke of the endless battle of hatred we encounter generation after generation. He spoke of a problem that has been around since the beginning of humankind and still existed in 1957. Unfortunately, the problem still exists making his speech just as great of an impact today as it was when he first delivered it.

Since Dr. King's speech was inspired by Scripture, his underlying point was that Jesus wanted us to love everyone including our enemies. Jesus knew it was difficult to love people who did wrong to us, but it was something that had to be done. No questions asked.

Throughout Loving Your Enemies, Dr. King provides some guidance on how we can bring those who hate us to a loving place.

His first point was that we must look at ourselves, as individuals. We must discover within if there is something that provokes hatred in someone else, whether or not we have control of such attributes. It provides an understanding why another may hate us.

Dr. King's second point was we must look at our enemies and find the good qualities. Every person has good traits, and it is important to recognize them. Finding the good will outweigh the bad.

Thirdly, Dr. King states, "When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it." One of the most difficult exercises for one to accomplish! There usually comes a time when we get the chance to get back at someone who has done a wrong to us, but we must find the strength to turn our revenge into love.

Dr. King then guided his speech from teaching us how to love our enemies to why we should love our enemies. He believed, as did Jesus, hate only encouraged hate and made hate stronger. Meaning if you retaliate against someone whom has done wrongly against you, the hate continues with no end. Someone has to take the higher road to end the cycle of hate.

Another reason we must love our enemies, according to Dr. King, is that when we hate we destroy ourselves. When we concentrate on hate, we destroy our own personality. We become so consumed with hate; we have no room for love. Thus, if we have filled our inner space with something so negative, how can we have room to welcome an enemy?

Overall, Dr. King challenged us as individuals, societies, governments and nations to release the hatred we have for one another and find the wonderfulness within us all. Realize love is greater than the winning of a bloody battle or winning an argument or being prejudice towards someone who seems different than us.

Loving Your Enemies still provides great advice for us today. Will you listen to Dr. King now?