Should we love Satan since he is our greatest enemy?

Question

Jesus asked us to love our enemy Mat 5:43-44:

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

So, should we love Satan?

Answer 1

Our command to love our enemies is intended for our human enemies, whom God also loves. God's love for us is shown through His sacrifice on the cross, and also in the statement that it is His desire that every man come to repentance.

Satan, on the other hand, cannot come to repentance, and there is no hope for his redemption.

A good answer with scripture references can be found here: http://www.westarkchurchofchrist.org/library/lovesatan.htm

The following is copied directly from the article:

A young girl asked me this question: "Should we love Satan?" She clarified her question by saying Jesus taught us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44-45) and that Satan is our enemy (1 Peter 5:8).

After careful consideration of the question, I answered something like this. All of mankind has hope; the apostle Paul said he had a goal or an aim to "... present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:28). We are to seek every man's highest good -- that is to love him that he might be saved. On the other hand, Satan's eternity has been sealed, there is not anything that man can do or should do to change that. We are told that Satan has gone forth with great wrath because he knows that he has but a short time (Revelation 12:12). Jesus tells us that he has prepared a lake of fire for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

What should be our attitude towards Satan? We should follow the example of Michael the archangel who refused to get involved with Satan, even in a discussion. Michael was willing to leave Satan in God's hands. He said, "The Lord rebuke thee" (Jude 9). Our attitude towards Satan should be to resist him. God said, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). We are to be on guard and watchful because Satan is our enemy trying to devour us (1 Peter 5:8).

Satan has many devices; he is tricky. He is trying to lead us to the grave separated from God (2 Corinthians 2:11). He is trying to blind our minds to the word of God through unbelief (2 Corinthians 4:4).

We are not instructed in the inspired scripture to love Satan, but to overcome him. The only way we can do this is to fill our hearts with the word of God (1 John 2:14). Jesus is our example; Satan threw everything he had at Jesus -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- and each time Jesus would answer, "It is written." He defeated Satan with the word of God, and He did not try to convert him (Matthew 4:1-11) because Satan's eternity in the lake of fire had already been sealed.

In the context of Matthew 5, when Jesus said, "Love your enemies," He was discussing our relationship with our fellow man and not with Satan.

Roy Dunavin West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR

In addition to the above, your question ignores the context.

The verse is in the midst of a series of "You have heard it said" statements that show that the Old Testament law is the bare minimum of what is required for righteousness, and in this example, the statement that we should love our enemy was "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor'" The essence of the verse is (like the surrounding verses) that the law says to do this, but the true requirement for perfect love and righteousness is to do this more perfect fulfillment of the law of love...

In the context of this verse, "thy neighbor" was clearly meant to denote human relationships. There is no reason, other than to set up a straw-man argument, to believe that "your enemy" is meant to be viewed in a different context.

Answer 2

If we consider that love is an action, I don't think it's possible to love Satan in the same way that we love our neighbor, and we cannot do so without hating God.

If we look at the parable of the Good Samaritan, we love our neighbor (our fellow human) by taking care of them when they are in need. Jesus several times shows love to other people by serving them and God calls us to do the same. In this sense, there is really no way we can "love" Satan because we cannot do anything for him as we can a human.

Also, we love others by praying for their salvation and telling others about Christ. But it is quite clear in the Bible that Satan's fate is already sealed, so there is nothing we can do for him in that regard.

Lastly, another way to "love" Satan is to basically serve his desires, but we cannot do that without disobeying God.

So, I don't think it is really possible to love Satan, because we cannot do so in the sense that we love other humans, and we cannot do so without going against God.

Answer 3

I know that Satan is PURE EVIL. There is a balance between evil and good. To have pure good in your hearts, you cannot hate, and if we do have hate in our hearts toward Satan, we wouldn't have a 100 percent pure heart. I think it is more of a shame on you, shakes your head, no hope, no trust, disappointment in towards Satan. Why should I hate Satan? Why should I love Satan? I am dissapointed in Satan is all. That is how pure my heart is. God gave us wisdom to know better and use better judgment. Yes, Satan is a fool but, there is nothing anyone can do about it, not even God Himself because again, Satan is PURE EVIL.