"Probably no admonition of Jesus has been more difficult to follow than the command to "love your enemies." Some men have sincerely felt that its actual practice is not possible. It is easy, they say, to love those who love you, but how can one love those who openly and insidiously seek to defeat you? Others, like philosopher Nietzsche, contend that Jesus' exhortation to love one's enemies is testimony to the fact that the Christian ethic is designed for the weak and cowardly, and not for the strong and courageous. Jesus, they say, was an impractical idealist.
In spite of these insistent questions and persistent objections, this command of Jesus challenges us with new urgency. Upheaval after upheaval has reminded us that modern man is traveling along a road called hate, in a journey that will bring us to destruction and damnation. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to love one's enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival. Love even for enemies is the key to the solution of the problem of our world. Jesus is not an impractical idealist; he is the practical realist."
from Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr. - published in 1963
Very Insightful. This is, indeed, very hard to do but quite necessary.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
Thanks so much for sharing. Pam
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Tonya. Thank you for sharing this today.
ReplyDeleteLove your enemies. That really pisses them off. >:-)>
ReplyDeleteLast year our pastor did a sermon series on racism. He called it hate, too. I grew up in a very racist family and it was actually not hate that I saw but fear. We were taught to be fearful of anyone of any color who was different than us. I do see hate too, but at the root of the whole thing is fear. I call myself a recovering racist and I have really moved past the hate but the fear is so incredibly hard to shake. Just my thoughts from the inside.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing. What inspiring words! Reminds me of another quote from Martin Luther King, Jr that I love: " Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
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