Seamill Sunset
Love your enemies!
It's far from easy to even like folk who don't seem to like you or who oppose you and at times despise you.. Yet according to the Bible Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies.
How on earth can we do that. It seems natural to at the very least dislike them let alone love them.
So what did Jesus mean?
The Greeks have different words for our one word love.
Eros can be physical sexual love.
Philia can mean ‘like’. I love/like the Beatles. I love/like chocolate.
Agape is a love which reaches out to help or to heal.
It is the word agape that Jesus used when he said, love your enemies.
So Jesus is saying that to love our enemies is an act of will!
We have to positively go out of our way to ensure that despite our enemy’s apparent hatred for us we wish him/her nothing but their ultimate good!
That is hard to do but it works.
Empathy can change attitudes. Empathy can bring about healing in relationships.
There should be no bearing of grudges in the life of the Christian.
Don't think that this message of Jesus only applies to someone else!
It applies to you and to me!
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