“To harbor no envy, no anger, no resentment against an offender is still not to have charity for him. It is possible, without any charity, to avoid rendering evil for evil. But to render, spontaneously, good for evil -- such belongs to a perfect spiritual love.” St. Maximus the Confessor (580-662)

It is possible for a person not to harbor envy, anger and resentment against another out of a human decision of goodness. But Jesus commands us to go beyond human goodness. He calls us to transform our human decision by choosing to love the person, wishing the best for that person. What is the best? It is for the offender to come to a decision of conversion of heart, by God’s grace, and repent and be saved. Not only do we not want to lose our eternal salvation by harboring these evils, but we want the other person’s eternal salvation as well. So, we choose to love. This was the message of the early Christians whose love was so explicitly obvious in the face of persecution leading to martyrdom. It was their love that touched the hearts of many of the spectators. What they saw, they wanted.