Love One Another As I Have Loved You

It is certainly understandable when we get irritated with people.  Whether it's that person at work that is always "pushing our buttons" or the complete stranger that cuts us off in traffic.  We are human and getting angry or irritated is a human emotion.  We all do it.  I get mad.  You get mad.  You may even get mad at me or perhaps me at you.  So often we get mad, we try to justify the way we feel.  We come up with excuses.  We do our best to excuse ourselves from being mad, . . .. from being angry.  But the bottom line is that as Christians we are called to be different from the world.  As Christians we are called to emulate, . .  to imitate Our Blessed Saviour.  Even when we are justified in being angry (i.e., the person that cuts us off in traffic and almost runs into us), Our Lord commends us to show forgiveness because that is what He did.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?  do not even the publicans the same?"  (St. Mathew 5:43-47)

In fact, if you notice what Our Lord stated above, He said not only to love your enemy but specifically He said that we should "pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."  So, for us to be more Christ-like as Christians we should both love our enemies and pray for them.  Now, bear in mind what we are called to do is not just a suggestion.  It's even more than a recommendation.  It's actually a commandment that we should love one another:  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if you have love one to another."  (St. John 13:34-35)

Is any of what Our Lord commanded easy to do?  Not in the least!  Will we always be successful?  No!  And yet we are called to love . . . . Nay, we are commanded to love one another . . . . This is how the world will know that we are Christians Our Lord tells us.  As I say it will not be easy to do.  It will not be simple to achieve.  But we need to do if we want to be a Christian.  Our Blessed Lord never asks us to do something that He was not willing to do Himself.  Our Lord didn't just "talk the talk," He "walked the walk!"  He loved those that hated Him.  He showed love to those that mocked Him.  He asked forgiveness for those who crucified Him.   He died on the Cross for my enemy just as much as He did for me.

Let us lift up those in prayer those who oppose us.  Let us bring them to God in prayer.  Let us ask God to bless our enemies and to be with them.  As hard as this may be for most of us, it may ultimately benefit us as well when we pray for our enemies and those who oppose us.  Number one, in order to truly pray for someone we have to begin letting go of the hatred and bitterness inside of us that we are holding on to.  Second, when we get rid of the anger and hatred inside of us, it will stop eating us up inside.  Typically, I have found that the anger and hatred that I have towards someone else does more damage to me than it does to the person I am angry with.

"Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth."  (Proverbs 24:17)