Loving your enemies

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True love is to lay down your life for another..you can't go beyond this i see
 
My grandma used to say " You can love anyone...but it doesnt mean you like their ways"

Oh he loves the sinner but hates the sin too? Bible also says that love protects too. So you protect your family and friends is the way to think too. You don't just let people to walk all over you either.
 
Ill repute. If she wasn't having sex for money, she was having it before marriage.

I think you suffer from the same problem I have as a dye-in-the-wool Eagles fan -- we spend way too much time taking creative license out of the small bit of reality we have. I do it way too often with the Eagles. You do it way too often with the Bible. I'm ankle deep in Eagles-beliefs swamp. You're up to your neck in creative-licensing the Bible swamp.

Mary Magdalene had previously been possessed by demons. No where has there been any indication that she was a prostitute or adulterer.

I don't quite get your 'Eagles" analogy? The bible speaks for itself, I wasn't being creative. I was just curious as to why so many people think Mary Magdalene was a tramp, because I had never read that? And I'm a disappointed Bears fan :)




 
I know all who've fallen victim to Jason's loonesy won't stop trying to convince him of what is being said by me, and everyone here. So, I'm just going to bow out and NOT worry about him anymore. Not worth my time and energy anymore. I'll focus my time on my bible study.
 
Everyone sins. EVERYONE!!!!! That DOES, AND WILL INCLUDE YOU TOO Jason. You're not perfect, and you never will be. And this whole thread was about love? Ha!!! I'm not seeing the love we are required to show people. I don't care if all this is sarcasm. It's not to me. Never has and never will be.

Do you really believe we could never be perfect someday? So what's the point to live only in this cruel world? I guess we should be waiting and preparing (through living as Jesus taught us) till the day we'll receive holy bodies to live in the new world promissed by God.
 
I know all who've fallen victim to Jason's loonesy won't stop trying to convince him of what is being said by me, and everyone here. So, I'm just going to bow out and NOT worry about him anymore. Not worth my time and energy anymore. I'll focus my time on my bible study.

The point is not only study the Bible, is to live the Bible. If you're not aiming to deal with Jason, just ignore him, but don't accuse him or anyone else. Live your life in Christ, continue sharing your Christian experience on CC.
 
What if the person doesnt even want to. What if the person just cant forgive someone and really doesnt want to forgive them ever. Why should that person be punished by God when they were a victim of someones evil.
 
What if the person doesnt even want to. What if the person just cant forgive someone and really doesnt want to forgive them ever. Why should that person be punished by God when they were a victim of someones evil.

Zoii,

This is something the Lord taught me a while ago

Forgiveness is an act of love given to the one that has been the offender. It releases the one that has been offended,from anger,bitterness and hatred. One that truly forgives cannot remain angry,retain a hurt,or harbor bitterness because it comes from love. It restores the offender and lets them let go of the guilt.
While it is very hard to do to forgive the uncle that raped you as a child,to forgive the father that despised you,the sister that takes you for over $40,000 and tries to get all the rest from you,to forgive the classmates that picked on you and called you horrible names,the guys who jump you in the bathroom,the roommate that steals your car,the roommate that tries to kill you,the co-workers that threaten to do you bodily harm,etc etc Never easy to do but it brings so great a release and sets the one who forgives free. It brings healing to the heart and soul.

Once it's done the first time it becomes so much easier,to just let it go. The things that at first seems so hard to overcome become so much easier,and even when someone else does the same thing it doesn't hurt as bad because is not compounded because the first was healed. It's an awesome thing.

How many of us really think about the words we say each week? Most of us say them time after time,week after week. Within those words contain a message that we often don't think about. It's an expectation,contained within the very prayer that we so often repeat. It's most often known as the Lord's prayer or as some call it the disciples prayer.

And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.

The expectation is that we will forgive in the same manner as which we seek to be forgiven by our Father in heaven. It is a practical application of showing the love we have for God by showing it to one another.
Then it becomes an act of obedience out of love.
 
Fine guys, I'm going to share my experiences as a Christian on here only. I'm ignoring this Jason thing from now on. You guys can bicker with him and make him feel bad about himself. I am bowing out gracefully. Have fun with this. God bless you all.
 
What if the person doesnt even want to. What if the person just cant forgive someone and really doesnt want to forgive them ever. Why should that person be punished by God when they were a victim of someones evil.

Because then why should you ask for Gods forgivness (after you comitted spiritual high treason a.k.a sin) and get it and then you don't forgive someone else that's called hypocrasy. I don't mean to sound harsh but do you see my point?
 
Ive walked the halls of Jason's loony bin more than I should have trying to show him the way to the exit but as it stands he wants to remain a patient there. I think a different tact may be required at this point and that is to just let him converse with his fellow inmates.
Pssst, aren't we his fellow looney bin mates? :confused:
 
I don't believe Jason has ever admitted that he is perfect. As you have said everyone sins, however we can't use that as an excuse to not live according to God's word. I stumble and fall, but it isn't like I look forward to sinning because that is wrong and when I do, I repent and turn away from what caused me to sin in the first place.
He does say once he repents he never goes back to that sin. There's only 200+ ways to sin. Given most of us aren't given into a good 25% of the sin list, (I'm just not inclined to rob a bank or covet my neighbor's wife), wouldn't it be safe to assume that he has already repented (and never turned back to them) all the types of sin he did do?
 
Because then why should you ask for Gods forgivness (after you comitted spiritual high treason a.k.a sin) and get it and then you don't forgive someone else that's called hypocrasy. I don't mean to sound harsh but do you see my point?

I do see your point Sis. I'd rather burn in hell.
 
I do see your point Sis. I'd rather burn in hell.

Emotion of pain, is not letting go of what has happened. If you let pain define you, you loose even the good things you enjoy, because eventually they will be lost. Un-forgiveness is fine if you could see purely, without fault and knew what the problem was and where the fault truly lay. Unfortunately we only see dimly, and are often as guilty of the things that hurt us. The pain we feel sometimes comes to define us, because in the confusion and chaos inside, the pain is the only consistent thing that says we did really care.

Rather than this being a sign of health it is a sign we need help, in all the other areas. So I know how hard it can be, and how deep it can go. A friend of mine could not forgive their son an insult, and stayed in unforgiveness about a year before he finally realised it was his pride that was hurt, not anything more, and to reject the Lord because of pride was just stupid.

So no-one is saying this is easy, it is just waking up to reality and saying, I understand.
 
I do see your point Sis. I'd rather burn in hell.

You don't want that. I understand you are hurt but believe it or not forgiveness can be a cure to your hurt. Take it from someone who held on to her hurt for about 2 years before being able to finally forgive. It's also for YOUR benefit.
 
I do see your point Sis. I'd rather burn in hell.

Why would you want to burn in hell for something someone else did to you, and in the meantime carry that hurt that should never have been placed on you in the first place? That's not even fair to yourself. It's best to forgive, even if you only do it for yourself, because it's really for you anyway.
 
Why would you want to burn in hell for something someone else did to you, and in the meantime carry that hurt that should never have been placed on you in the first place? That's not even fair to yourself. It's best to forgive, even if you only do it for yourself, because it's really for you anyway.

I know everyone is right. I know it. And I think about it and want to vomit. I just dont believe Im gonna b thought of as a bad person because for this. Its just not possible for me and I dont even want to
 
I agree that some people are hurt, and act accordingly. But some people are just evil. They love pleasure, and they don't care who they hurt to get it. Be that as it may, it is still our job to love and forgive them, because if it is in them to change, fire won't respond to fire, you need water. And if they change they are no better then us because we also sinned. We should be rooting for them to change as we did, and be saved as we are. If it is not in them to change, God will dish out His wrath upon them. They will not get away with murder, but the wrath they will receive is not ours to dish out.

Revenge belongs to God alone, for He is without sin. Anyone who has sinned, yet dishes out revenge, is a hypocrite. And hypocrites will be on the receiving end of God's wrath. But the more you love and forgive them, the more you make God's case against them- proof that they had every opportunity to see and to respond to good, but they chose evil. Don't make the mistake of yoking yourself with abusive people, you don't have to find trouble and offer yourself as a target. But if they do sin against you, respond like Christ did, because fighting fire with fire just makes for a bigger fire.
 

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I have a testimony that I wanted to share with you all that I have been struggling with this week. I am finishing up my classes for the term and in my business class my instructor assigned us to work in groups of six and our job was to design a business from the ground up and take care of all the financial statements, write up a formal business plan and present it to the class. Well, I was the oldest in my group and the members in my group did not want to take responsibility and do their part of the assignment. So basically, I did all the work for six people and still managed to make 50 cupcakes from scratch and decorated them for the presentation early this afternoon. Plus, I have been living off of 3 hours of sleep each night for over a week and a half. No matter how frustrated I got with my group I never let it affect the way I spoke to them. That is what is meant by loving our enemies no matter what. We may not agree with them, but it is vital we are to speak out of love and kindness because that is what Jesus would do and how are we supposed to show God's love for us if we "hate" our enemies? We can't and so we need to be loving toward each other.