Loving your enemies

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zoii said:
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.
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Loving your enemies doesn't mean forgiving them. God doesn't expect us to make ourselves willing victims of someone else's abuse. Pray for your enemies and ask God to straighten them out, that's loving them. We are instructed to forgive others even as our Father forgives us. Does God forgive an unrepentant person who never ask for forgiveness? No, and I don't think he expects us to do so either. "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him" (Luke 17:3). That's the parameter (condition) by which we forgive. We love our enemy by not exchanging evil for evil or taking vengeance against them. God doesn't punish you for being a victim of someones evil, in fact, God promises that he'll personally deal with people who victimize his children (Romans 12:20, Mark 9:42, Romans 19:12).
 
Dan58 said:
Loving your enemies doesn't mean forgiving them. God doesn't expect us to make ourselves willing victims of someone else's abuse. Pray for your enemies and ask God to straighten them out, that's loving them. We are instructed to forgive others even as our Father forgives us. Does God forgive an unrepentant person who never ask for forgiveness? No, and I don't think he expects us to do so either. "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him" (Luke 17:3). That's the parameter (condition) by which we forgive. We love our enemy by not exchanging evil for evil or taking vengeance against them. God doesn't punish you for being a victim of someones evil, in fact, God promises that he'll personally deal with people who victimize his children (Romans 12:20, Mark 9:42, Romans 19:12).
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Ty thats exactly how I feel. I know someone whos was so badly abused and that evil person is in no way sorry. I hope God really does deal with him... and I'd like to offer God advice on how he could do that
 
zoii said:
Ty thats exactly how I feel. I know someone whos was so badly abused and that evil person is in no way sorry. I hope God really does deal with him... and I'd like to offer God advice on how he could do that
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Congratulations! You finally got someone to tell you what you wanted to hear, instead of telling the truth.
 
JFSurvivor said:
In the Bible there is a whole slew of verses about loving your enemies. I have some thoughts and some questions on that...

Luke 6:27-36
V.35-36: Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.

So here is what I am thinking: God loves everyone, even "bad people".

In my mind (and I don't know if God sees it this way, this is just how I see it) there is no such thing as "good" and "bad" people. There is just hurt people. when someone hurts me do I get upset? yes but I also wonder what they are hurting about too.

I think God put these verses in there because He knows hurt people, hurt people and he doesn't want that cycle to continue and the only way to break that cycle is to love those who hurt you. So then the focus is more on helping them than on yourself and how much you are hurt. Of course it is healthy to process your anger and hurt in a healthy way and I think part of that includes seeing that individual who hurt you as another hurt individual. I don't know if that's how it is and I'm not claiming to know the heart of God but I am just saying what I have seen from my experience.

So what do you think about this?

Also, Romans 12:19-21 states that if you are kind to your enemies it will be like heaping burning coals on his head. Why did it say that? It's like "be nice to your enemies so they suffer." I don't get that. I mean is it saying "be nice so the natural consequences come about to that person and they change for the better." or what? I'm all confused. Thoughts?
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"there is no such thing as "good" and "bad" people."

Each time I see a person driving his motorcycle using his mobile to answer (or place a phonecall) I´m sure he is BAD.

Each time I see a person limiting ppl´s rights, making use of the opportunity to hurt, to dominate, to beat, etc., I´m sure he or she is bad.


At least the Lord Jesus showed His opinion about ppl:


Mat 5:45 so that you may prove to be sons of your Father in heaven; because He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mat 13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
 
secularhermit said:
"there is no such thing as "good" and "bad" people."

Each time I see a person driving his motorcycle using his mobile to answer (or place a phonecall) I´m sure he is BAD.

Each time I see a person limiting ppl´s rights, making use of the opportunity to hurt, to dominate, to beat, etc., I´m sure he or she is bad.


At least the Lord Jesus showed His opinion about ppl:


Mat 5:45 so that you may prove to be sons of your Father in heaven; because He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mat 13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
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But that is God judging. Not us. We don't know their hearts. It's ok for God to make those judgments but not us. Make sense?
 
cmarieh said:
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.
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You our just made me understand what loving our enemies means. I'm not going to explain, cause you and everyone know what I'm thinking.
 
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