“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48
Each morning I write out a personal vow. Part of that vow includes, “Today I will love, pray for and do good to my enemies in expectation that we can become friends.” I must write this out and think about it. I then pray for a short list of people that have publicly insulted me or my work and have shown themselves to be adversaries to my work. I pray for them to be blessed, I pray that God would find some way to restore peace in our relationship and even pray that if they are trying anything to subvert the work that they would be discouraged. I must make this vow and make this prayer daily because otherwise I am likely to hold onto bitterness and anger and consider vengeance.
When I was in Kosovo I remember meeting with an Albanian leader, a Muslim man and discussing what was going to happen someday when the assorted military forces would go home. Without blinking an eye, he talked about revenge on a certain Serbian man who had raped his sister. He also intended to hurt many other Serbians in payment for the crime. I asked him what would likely happen after that. There was a pause and he shrugged. I brought up that the Serbian’s family might also want revenge and then the cycle would go on indefinitely. He took a deep breath and asked if it was ok that this man had raped his sister. “Of course not. I see that you love your sister and hopefully you can love her through the hurt of that egregious event. But I encourage you to work with the new community leaders to bring justice. Revenge does not equal justice.” All of this happened through an interpreter that happened to be Serbian, so I am not confident that the message came through. Cycles of violence happen when we choose eye for an eye.
It was easy for me to see the cycle when it was someone else. However, I struggle in my own heart. My hurt feelings want me to hurt others. When I search my heart, I see how easy it is to make an idol out of my hurt, an idol out of revenge, or an idol out of “justice.” My friends as a follower of Jesus I must choose to forgive and forsake all idols. Jesus is my example. He could have allowed Peter and the apostles to fight for Him in the Garden. He could have called down legions of Angels and certainly would have won the fight. But He chose to be wronged. He chose to allow injustice to be done against Him. He surrendered all. This is difficult for a patriot and soldier to understand and apply. “Won’t I look weak. Won’t the forces of evil take advantage of that weakness and bring a lifetime of pain to me?” God answers, “Maybe. But as much as it depends on you live at peace with all men.” I have often fallen short of this ideal of perfection. I have had to repent and ask for forgiveness more times than I can count. But I dust myself off after my failures and try again. I encourage you to do the same.
