II Kings 5 tells the remarkable story of how Naaman the leper was healed. But we should make sure that we do not overlook a remarkable thing in verses 2-3, which says that there was “a little girl” who had been “taken captive” on the Arameans’ raid in Israel. What a horrifying thing! Can you imagine the fear and horror she had experienced? Now she was made a servant to Naaman’s wife. Many would have been consumed by bitterness and fear. But her response is striking:

Verse 3 says that this girl had COMPASSION on Naaman! “She said to her mistress, ‘I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.'”

We might do well to stop and ask ourselves here: WHY would SHE care whether Naaman would be cured of his leprosy?! This was the man who had taken her captive and made her a servant. Perhaps he had treated her well, which would speak well of him and what God may have already been doing in his heart. But regardless, it also says something remarkable about this young girl, that even in her captivity and humiliation, she was concerned about her captor. She truly lived out Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies” — hundreds of years before He ever spoke them — and challenges us to do the same today.