Christians:Is It Possible to Love Your Enemy?

[Alpha]

I think that because most people and in particular me find it very difficult to love your enemies, it is a virtue one should strive to acheive. Also, i think it can be said that it is our duty to love our neighbours whether they are our enemies or not. Our duty is something we ought to do and therefore it is possible because "ought" means we can do it...something ive adopted from a chap called Kant

 

[ChristineES]

I think the first person we each need to improve and pray for is ourself.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

I think the first person we each need to improve and pray for is ourself.

I think it should be the guy who covets mine ox.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Better yet, Pray for the corrupt people. Pray that they may rid themselves of corruption.

That was the point.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

ChristineES said

I think the first person we each need to improve and pray for is our self.

Well said,... and who knows, in time, we may come to understand that all the while, our perceived 'enemy' was 'thirsting' for the very same 'waters of life' that we were?

 

[ChristineES]

I read a book called "Living Christ, Living Buddha" by a famous Buddhist Monk and peace activist from Viet Nam named Thich Naht Hanh (an excellent read, by the way) and he said that if we pray for our enemies and try to love them then we will start to understand why they do certain things and they cease to be our enemies. That idea really made me think! And it is what has been influencing some of my posts.

 

[Anti-World]

Absolutely, I can love my enemies. It *so* ignorant for people to hate one another. Literally, one another.
It's not the person that makes us angry, it's their actions. I try to show people what they are doing wrong, just like a teacher does with a student. Teachers shouldn't get angry with their students just as I shouldn't get angry with people that don't understand me.
On the other hand, there's the hyperactive people that can really get on my nerves, but I understand that they are people very similar to me underneath their rediculous amount of energy.
There's also the people that are almost constantly angry and seem to explode on the smallest thing. Many times these people don't realize how unreasonable they're being, and many *more* times they come from a very difficult background.
I find I need to be understanding, or I'm just part of the problem.

 

[OMGelka]

Absolutely, I can love my enemies. It *so* ignorant for people to hate one another. Literally, one another.
It's not the person that makes us angry, it's their actions. I try to show people what they are doing wrong, just like a teacher does with a student. Teachers shouldn't get angry with their students just as I shouldn't get angry with people that don't understand me.
On the other hand, there's the hyperactive people that can really get on my nerves, but I understand that they are people very similar to me underneath their rediculous amount of energy.
There's also the people that are almost constantly angry and seem to explode on the smallest thing. Many times these people don't realize how unreasonable they're being, and many *more* times they come from a very difficult background.
I find I need to be understanding, or I'm just part of the problem.

"Telling" them what they're doing wrong in the context of personal things like sexual preference, or premarital sex, as if you're in a position of moral authority, is pretty offensive.
You don't seriously tell people there is something wrong with them in regards to that context, do you?
I would give you the benefit of the doubt, considering the vague nature of your post.

 

[alpha&omega]

all life is worth tryin to save,karma,energy,is the base of religion,dont hate but defend!culture,class and econimics are what its about,all religion other than cult crap are the same,jesus,alah,buhda,krishna,bridgid,thor,mars,thoth,quazicotl,the creator r all the same crap,yahew wanted jews to reclaim palistine santioned by the resolver of guilt for war,the ark of the covenent,egypian cherubs lion hermaprodites gaurding the holy of holys even though thats described as demonic in the new testament,the ear of god is gnostic or older egyptian,hermes trigmagistas,the emrald tablets is the same as the arc!qumran,and the essenes,the cult jesus came from is the start lol,wearers of white,the pure!templers took up there tabard with a charm,templer cross is red on white..eg..blood of the pure=gaurdians of the pilgrams,first to dig on the rock of the dome,king solomans temple,they went from 6 knights to the most organized unafiliated military;armed,armored,and theocratic force in europe,sanctioned by the pope when monastic branches of the church seem only special to them!king james of spain was tutored by templers,the most gnostic version of the acepted scriptures!paul went to greece and his gospels where eventually become the basis of the new testament,but saul the lyer,was jelios of mary whom jesus kissed on the lips,not precice but the nag hamadi texts say this,wich predate new tes gospheles by 2 hundred yrs,juda didnt betray he was a middle man,the line of david,riding an ***,wearing white,like the dali lama wearing his robes driving his car the german made to lhasa,christos is greek,christianity is a religion based on political power to control a volitile area of an empire,gnosis is the seeking of thruth,knowledge and understanding,theology,aberax and his strugle,dark and light,good and evil,and the quest of enlightenment!gnosis,is as old as we know,egypian hebrew,indian religion all similar,buhda,jesus and alah all where enlightned they obtained gnosis which is understanding.polotics is what creates sects and devides a ppl into two!je-had...prob spelled wrong im a thinker not a speller,means protect inocence for the greater good,the koran preaches peace not war but just like the crusades,god and the pope whos elected by god and his voice on earth lol"nazi panzer member"can condem or santion war and genocide,true followers of all mesiahs follow the path of peace,polotics has become a stage for religious natinalistic ppls to arm and fight because thats all they no!paistinians and jews r both abrhams sons,one ligit the other not,power is fire,can harness and use or it can destroy!hebrews cuxed jesus,and elected hitler indirectly lol the blood of david is why bilions ahve died,from the pharos to the holocaust!the king of isreal is from the blood of david and we have a faith built on fragmented,planned scriptures changed to suit!constantine invented christianity to apease and mend a brocken empire!dec 24 is 3 days after the solstice where the sun hits an equinox,three magi folowing a star at solstice.mithriatic sun worship lol became the martyrs birth,rebirth of the sun becomes the christos birth!old test,kabal,coptic,and gnostic,koran and the talmud r all the same story culturaly divided by ignorance and lust lol!

 

[texan1]

This question is mainly for Christians, but anyone else can answer,too, if they want to.

Jesus commands His followers to love their enemies and pray for those who harm them and persecute them. I am wondering if you find this possible to do. (for non-Christians, can you love your enemy?)

I admit I find it hard at times but once I start praying for my enemies it becomes easier. I am not just talking about Bin Laden or whatever but people who seem hostile that I have encountered.
:shout

It is difficult. And if you are talking about enemies in the sense of someone causing great harm to your children or your family - I don't know if I could, but luckily I have not encountered that in my life.

But if you are talking about enemies in a smaller sense - people who are consistently rude, inconsiderate, manipulative, deceitful, etc......I think this type of behavior usually stems from a place of sadness and self-hatred. When I began to realize that it became much easier to love and forgive them, whether or not they felt any remorse for their actions. (Though I tend to think of people like this as troubling and annoying, but not neccessarily "enemies". Enemy is a strong word.)

 

[Troublemane]

The only way to "love" an enemy is to see whatever harmful thing they are doing as not them, but as simply their inability to be compassionate. Then its easy, because you feel sorry for them. :angel2:

Im not saying this is always the smartest thing to do! Especially if they have a gun pointed on you. But after you have kicked their butt, then feel sorry for them. Remember, WWCND (what would chuck norris do...)

 

[Ben Dhyan]

I do not think it wise to think of other people, individual or collective, as an enemy on the basis of the geopolitical or inter-sectarian disputes going on in this world.

Give to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar, and to God......

The Kingdom of God is not of this world and so long as our heart remains true to this principle, we will not be deceived and manipulated to join the fray of hate and war.

 

[dawny0826]

The only way to love your enemies is with agape love, which is God's love. This love is unconditional, and has very little to do with one's feelings. You can be justifiably angry at someone over their wrong actions, you can even feel a great dislike for them personally, and, yet, still love them. Jesus didn't mean we had to like our enemies, or feel warm, fuzzy feelings towards them----He simply meant that we should intentionally love them, by choosing to forgive them and treat them with kindness and respect and not return their evil with like evil. It's called "heaping coals on their heads."

Beautifully said and I concur.

 

[Charity]

Praying for your enemy is one of the hardest things to do....I think God is more pleased when we pray for an enemy than for a friend, because it requires our sacrifice and obedience, it's easy praying for friends and family, but someone that has hurt you or wronged you, Well that is difficult. Thanks to our Heavenly Father we can do it!

 

[ericoh2]

This is a great post and it raises a very important question. One of the most beautiful verses in The Bible is when Jesus makes the statement "Not my will, but your will be done." The reason I bring this verse up is simply because if you live in this way it will be impossible for you to have enemies. Enemies can only exist if you feel that some things are a blessing and others are not. If you accept everything as God's will then all that occurs to you will be a blessing of equal value. You will find God in each and every action and being that you encounter. With this it will be possible to find God in everything and it will be impossible not to love all. True love can be channeled and allowed to posses us but it is to great for any one person to own.
It is also good to remember that "evil" is truly ignorance. No action is good or bad. It is only with intention and awareness that something becomes beneficial or harmful. Those who would do something to harm another are unaware that they are really doing it to themselves. This is not "evil" in the traditional understanding because the perpetrator is doing what he believes is acceptable even if it is with ill intentions to another being.
Only when we find and understand the unity which exists within God and all of His creation can we fully follow the message "Love your enemies." This is so because with this understanding you can have no enemies so only love is possible .

 

[Katzpur]

I once read something that made a lot of sense to me, even it I do have a hard time putting it into practice.

"Holding a grudge is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die."