Growing up in Philadelphia, I’ve always known my hometown as both William Penn’s “City of Brotherly Love” and the strong spirit of the “Fighting City of Philadelphia.” It’s a place where neighbors will shovel your sidewalk after a snowstorm, but also one where pride and toughness mean you don’t back down when someone wrongs you.

That conflict between love and fight isn’t just captured in the personality of the city. It lives inside of me. When Jesus says, “Love your enemies… do good to those who hate you… offer the other cheek”, I feel the weakness in my human nature. My instinct is to repay an insult with an insult. Offering the other cheek to an enemy feels like an impossible standard to meet.

But Jesus calls me to show strength in a different way. Responding to injury with forgiveness rather than vengeance requires a special kind of bravery that can only be achieved through God. Jesus reminds me that loving people who already love me is not noteworthy; even “sinners” can do that. The true test of faith is loving the people who are the hardest to love.

A grudge is incredibly easy to hold on to, but choosing mercy is a true act of courage. It doesn’t mean ignoring wrongs, but it does mean refusing to let them define how I respond. In my life, God has been merciful to me countless times when I didn’t deserve it. He asks me to pay that mercy forward, and to trust that love, not revenge, will yield the reward of salvation.

In Philly terms, the toughest thing you can do isn’t to fight back, it’s to love back!