Romans, chapter twelve also teaches us what it means to love your enemy...
v12 says.
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst, give him drink for in doing so, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head"
I take that as meaning that you are now looking at your enemy as God sees him, another human created in the image of God who has needs that you are willing to meet.
And by doing so, you're showing yourself to be unworthy to be his enemy but worthy to be his friend.
And if that is hard I will go one step further to say. It is impossible
to have that attitude without the Spirit of God within you leading you and guiding you that way.
I think they may that may be part of the point of Jesus command,
that we have to be dependent on Him in all our ways.…
To love you enemy or the villain and wish justice be done upon them, requires a world view in which spiritual progress or psychological development is a fundamental principle of life. If there is no meaning, purpose, or telos to life, let us "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!"
This take is kind of hard for me to square with the rest of the gospels. Judge not, mercy not sacrifice, turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, give without expecting pay, forgive in order to be forgiven, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, forgiveness of his murderers upon the cross, healing the wounds of his captors, we could go on and on. What you’re saying sounds like a clever reversal of the law of love, that actually if we really do love them we’ll enforce the law against them. If that’s the case then what is the point of God’s mercy?
I love the merging, as happened other times, between the teachings of Paganism and those of Christianism. No antagonism at all.
Romans, chapter twelve also teaches us what it means to love your enemy...
v12 says.
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst, give him drink for in doing so, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head"
I take that as meaning that you are now looking at your enemy as God sees him, another human created in the image of God who has needs that you are willing to meet.
And by doing so, you're showing yourself to be unworthy to be his enemy but worthy to be his friend.
And if that is hard I will go one step further to say. It is impossible
to have that attitude without the Spirit of God within you leading you and guiding you that way.
I think they may that may be part of the point of Jesus command,
that we have to be dependent on Him in all our ways.…
Thank you! This is one of the most puzzling aspects I have had with Christianity. And the take makes perfect sense.
Thank you!
To love you enemy or the villain and wish justice be done upon them, requires a world view in which spiritual progress or psychological development is a fundamental principle of life. If there is no meaning, purpose, or telos to life, let us "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!"
This take is kind of hard for me to square with the rest of the gospels. Judge not, mercy not sacrifice, turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, give without expecting pay, forgive in order to be forgiven, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, forgiveness of his murderers upon the cross, healing the wounds of his captors, we could go on and on. What you’re saying sounds like a clever reversal of the law of love, that actually if we really do love them we’ll enforce the law against them. If that’s the case then what is the point of God’s mercy?