Have you ever watched a superhero movie? They’re all filled with lots of action, fast-paced adventures and powerful characters. My personal favorite is Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman, who’s real name is Diana, has a completely different quality about her than other superheroes in both DC and Marvel, and I find that quality very refreshing.

Diana, in the words of actress Gal Gadot, “sees the world in a very pure way.” For instance, Diana’s entire purpose in leaving her hidden island of Themiscyra was not for her own good, but to kill Aries. She was taught that Zeus’ son Aries corrupted mankind with evil and the desire for war, and that the mission of the Amazon women was to kill him so that men would be good again.

That pure and selfless outlook on life colors the way she speaks and acts; kindness and sympathy continuously influence Diana’s every action. She never seeks to cause others pain for the mere purpose of hurting them or taking revenge — her motivation for “violence” is merely justice.

Yet even Diana had a time in her life when she questioned this sacrificial, loving attitude she had toward others.

In her attempt to destroy Aries, who she believed was General Ludendorff, Diana arrived at a WW1 airbase controlled by the Germans. She successfully found and killed Ludendorff, but she soon realized that in spite of her actions, the war had not stopped. In a moment of anger and despair, Diana said to her friend and guide Steve Trevor, “My mother was right. She said, ‘the world of men do not deserve you’, they don’t deserve our help!”

In my professional opinion, Diana would have completely spiraled out of control at this point if it wasn’t for Steve Trevor.

When Diana started to believe that people must deserve our help before we give it to them, Steve quickly pointed out the truth to her.

“Maybe people aren’t always good. Aries or no Aries. It’s who they are. It’s not about deserve! Maybe we don’t [deserve it]. But it’s not about that, it’s about what you believe.”

Now, I personally don’t agree with Diana that we were all made by Zeus, or that Aries is the one who poisoned mankind’s hearts with evil — but Steve made a very valuable point here. People will not always deserve our help, our kindness, or our love. But why we believe about the world, ourselves and others will greatly impact what we decide to do when faced with difficult decisions.

If we believe that we should only help people when they deserve it, honestly, we probably won’t ever help anyone! Everyone will let us down, everyone will misunderstand us, and no one will give us the unconditional love that Jesus does. That’s an undeniable fact.

But if we have a faith that enables us to see past people’s disqualifications, we will be able to love them. When we give up our mindset of making people “deserve our help” before we give them our aid, and exchange that mindset for a godly, loving one, that is when we are truly powerful.

“Let your gentleness be known to all men.” — Philippians 4:5

“Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us.” — Ephesians 5:2

None of us are superheroes or goddesses, but we all have the special ability to influence and impact those around us. We must ingrain our brains with the principle that people will not always deserve to be loved, yet we must love them anyway. This is the only kind of love that is truly worth having, and this is the kind of love that God expressed towards us in Christ.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” — Ephesians 4:32

So don’t believe the lie Diana almost succumbed to. In the words of G. K. Chesterton, “Love people without reasons.” Or, as I like to put it– love people in spite of their disqualifications.