Christians:Is It Possible to Love Your Enemy? (Jesus, followers)

[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.

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 d]

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]

Originally Posted by Hope

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."