A long time ago, I read what I thought was an article, and later realized was a sermon, by Martin Luther King Jr. It was so impactful that I try to go back and remember it from time to time. The whole thing is worth reading in its entirety, and I’ve shared an excerpt here:
“Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.”
–https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/loving-your-enemies-sermon-delivered-dexter-avenue-baptist-church
At the same time, that doesn’t mean we are to be passive or apathetic. There are many inspiring quotes to choose from on that front and you probably don’t need a link, but here are a couple of quick examples: Strength to Love Quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. (goodreads.com); Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes – BrainyQuote
For believers, I’m grateful for the five-fold ministries and appreciate that the diversity of gifts and paths are so important. At our church, we take a spiritual gifts test to help us find our strengths and direction. When I was talking with someone about it, he mentioned he scored particularly high on mercy and possibly my first thought was: “I don’t really get that.” That of course is not good and something I need to work on. It is wonderful that he has those gifts and that we are all growing. At the same time, it is not necessarily a bad thing to have a high justice personality. While “mercy triumphs over judgment,” we are made in His image and our heart for justice is meant to reflect God’s heart for justice. We know that He will “make everything right in the end.” Psalm 7:17 TPT.
One of my favorite passages is:
“6Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the [c]heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke? . . .”
Isaiah 58 (NKJV)
There is a famous quote from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who “wrote about marching with King from Selma to Montgomery: ‘I felt as if my legs were praying.’” (WE ARE INDEED OUR BROTHERS’ KEEPERS, AND INDEED WE ARE ALL BROTHERS | | greensboro.com – I’m not sure the original source, but there are a variety of websites that quote it, and I pulled something for attribution).