Can you love your enemy?

@bing_r77 (237)
Philippines
December 16, 2007 8:42am CST
Can you love your enemy? i think it is easier to say that we can love our enemy but in reality, it is so hard.. As God said in Mathew 5:44 'But i say to you, love our enemies, bless those who course you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you' Please share your ideas on this one.
2 people like this
14 responses
• United States
16 Dec 07
Sometimes you find that people that are your enemies are only your enemies in your perception and they would be shocked, hurt, or surprised to find out that you regard them that way. They are either too self absorbed to notice you or the thing they supposedly do wrong to you would not be apparent to the onlooker. It is because they are violating one of your personal hang ups or reflecting back to you what you are personally dealing with. You will find when you are at peace with something in your heart, a lot of your enemies disappear because they were not enemies to begin with. "loving them" can be simply holding your tongue when someone else drops bait for you to want to gossip about them, and to love them as another human being that is on the same journey. Or it can be more involved.
2 people like this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
maybe, we can love our enemy by starting to care for them. maybe by that, we can slowly find their goodness and undertand them more.. i agree with you, we can show our love to them by simply not involving gossips about them. loving them gives great strnegth and courage..
@lextoper (573)
• Philippines
16 Dec 07
yup your right... it is not easy to love our enemies specially if that enemy of ours really pains us. I have that experience before in which, i was being betrayed by a friend. I hurts me a lot that i promise to myself to hate him for my entire life. But time pass and i can see that his life is not as good as ours. I was thinking that he paid for what he did to me... so i decided not to hate him anymore...
2 people like this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
its so hard to hate someone especially your friend..in my case, if i will do that one, i will have no peace of mind..
• Pakistan
29 Dec 07
I agree that it is so hard to love our enemy. But it a best way to defeat the enemy by your love and kindness. Hate is not solution. Love the enemy and teach them the way of revenge with love. If you want to defeat your enemy then you should defeat him or her with your good moral. He will become your friend. When the enemy becomes a friend you win the battle without fight and this cause your undefeatable victory.
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
23 Jan 08
hello sheenshaukat! you are correct that to defeat our enemy is to love them. as what the bible says, the greatest commandment is to love our enemy... if all the people hear on earth will love their enemy, there will be peace here on earth...
@blueunicorn (2401)
• United States
16 Dec 07
You know, I honestly can say that I think I can love my enemy. There are people in this world who have really hurt me- two recently that I just can't seem to get over. While my anger is still high with the two, I would still help them if I knew they needed something. I still wish their lives would be more positive. It still makes me sad that anger has gotten in the way of a relationship that once was. I don't think that love goes away just because people are angry. Maybe more to the point on this is that I really don't have enemies. The closest I come is people who have hurt me.
2 people like this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
hello! i agree with you blue unicorn...if you love the person truly, even though how angry you are get with that person, the love is still their in your heart.. it will never change..
1 person likes this
• China
17 Dec 07
I think i may love my enemy ! Somebody may hate their enemy,But I disagree,In my opinion ,our enemy may make us feel stronger,andmore brave!
• United States
18 Dec 07
I'm not sure but I know I try to pray for my enemy everytime I pray
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
i agree with you huangdi.. loving our enemy gives us no hatred in our hearts. it makes us strong and braver..its a noble deed to love them..
@babymar (359)
• Philippines
23 Jan 08
it's hard to love an enemy, we can forgive what they have done to us but it's not easy to forget or even if we forget, how can we love them when they have been our enemy before....we can talk with each other but it's hard to love them...
1 person likes this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
23 Jan 08
hello babymar..i agree with what you said. its is difficult to love our enemy... the least we could do is to do good to them and be nice to them. and if they have sinned against us, forgive them... maybe by that, we can slowly know our enemy more and undertand them.. and maybe befriend them and love them..
@babymar (359)
• Philippines
24 Jan 08
yes, that's right...we should try to be nice to them so we can know them better, it's hard but we should atleast try
1 person likes this
• Saint Lucia
17 Dec 07
i know that loving my enemies is the right way to go but sometimes it can really be difficult to do that. some people just make it so hard for me to like or accept them much less love them. but for my new years resolution i will try to love my enemies even though it is hard.
1 person likes this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
hello keminem! its really difficult to love our enemies especially if we have too much hatred in our heart. its is so easy to say that we loved them but its is so hard to do.. i think if God is with us, we can do that noble thing, loving our enemy..
@sirraps (89)
• Philippines
24 Jan 08
Actually you can love your enemy. The sad part is it really hard to love your enemy specially if you hate that much. But as Confucius said "A journey to a thousand miles always begin with a single step" A small start can make a big difference. I suggest you may start by giving this few simple words "May Peace be with you"
1 person likes this
@youless (112496)
• Guangzhou, China
17 Dec 07
I think I am not generous in this aspect. I can't love my enemy. Perhaps I will forgive my enemies, but it doesn't mean that I will love them. Forgiving just makes myself feel better.
1 person likes this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
hello youless! it is so hard to love our enemy. yes, we can forgive someone who have hurt and done wrong against us... but, the feeling of disgust sometimes still remains. but i believe that if God is the center of our being, we can love our enemies..
@cosylvia (399)
• China
17 Dec 07
for me no way,coz in real word i have no enemy,only someone i dont like,maybe i dont never hate him but dont like,so wish you have a good day and merry the coming christmas
1 person likes this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
23 Jan 08
good for you cosylvia that you have no enemy... its hard to have enemy... its a burden in our life if we have one..
• Australia
30 Jan 08
No and never will ... LOL
1 person likes this
@Estina54 (385)
• United States
16 Dec 07
Nicely said, but I can't believe someone can do this. All we can do is be nice to them if they don't annoy us too much when we have to get in touch with them. Well, "forgive your enenies" would be more appropriate to say. I would love them a little bit if they stayed away from me.
@Ruibinha (157)
• Portugal
17 Dec 07
I have some enemies, not because i harmed them in any way but because they are a bit afraid of who i am (not in a bad way). To be honest, i like having enemies, they show us that we can be powerful and they envy who we are. At least is what happens to me. I am who i am, i never harmed no one. but I still have enemies. Now i have more self-esteem. Maybe this don't have any logic for you, but if you think a bit harder you will see what I mean. Our enemies make us feel more wanted, more "special", just because they wanted to be like you, have the same things and even, maybe, your personality. So... to answer your question, yes, I love my enemies, with them i am stronger and my self-esteem is higher.
1 person likes this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
Hello Ruibinha! i get what you mean..i remember someone who is a little bit like you.. its good that you get your strnegth from your enemies..
@dhamrait (71)
• India
18 Dec 07
It's sooooo hard. Tried to do that and the far I can go is to ignore and that too took lots of restraint.
1 person likes this
@bing_r77 (237)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
yeah, i have tried that one also.. but its difficult...