How to forgive and love an enemy

Christians must love their enemies because Jesus Christ, who is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, has commanded us to.

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in heaven..."   Matt. 5: 44-45

Jesus goes on to say that God sends the sunshine and the rain on the just and unjust alike. He does not hate sinners but loves them and gives them numerous opportunities to repent. If they reject Him and the help He offers, they, in effect, choose their own destiny.

Christians, as the people of God, might very well be the means God wants to use to draw these errant souls back to Himself. This can best be accomplished if they are approached with love, rather than with words of hatred and condemnation.

Every Christian must also love and forgive his enemies for his own sake. In the Lord's Prayer, we ask God to forgive us our trespasses or sins, as we forgive those who trespass or sin against us. In other words, we can't expect God to forgive us if we aren't willing to forgive those who sin against us, or in other words, our enemies.

Hatred is a destructive emotion. It poisons our moments of peace and contentment, it causes stress, and negatively affects the nervous system, sleep patterns, the heart and circulatory system.

The old saying that "hatred eats away at you..." conveys a great deal of truth. Usually, it doesn't affect the object of our hatred in the slightest. The energy expended in actively hating another person is ultimately turned back on the hater himself.

But, how can we forgive and love our enemies? We're only human after all, and anger, hatred and aversion are difficult emotions to ignore.

First of all, we must realize that forgiveness is an act of the will. You cannot always force yourself to love an enemy with your emotions, at least not right away.

You needn't approach him with feigned goodwill and false affection which you don't truly feel. He would sense your insincerity and it might make matters worse.

The Christian can decide that, because God wills it, he will forgive this enemy. He will refuse to entertain any negative thoughts about him. He will pray for the enemy and mentally place him in the hands of the loving Father who created them both. He will refuse to speak badly about this person, or to do anything that could harm him in any way.

In time, through prayer and with God's help, the hateful emotions will start fade to neutral, then to those approaching brotherly love. This is, after all, a soul for whom Jesus gave His life. Although he may have fallen off track for awhile, who among us hasn't? And then he will ask himself, "Is there anything I can do to help this person along the way to his heavenly home?"

At that point, the Christian will know that he has reached the goal with which Jesus challenged His followers: to love one's enemies. Then his own soul will be at peace. Because he has forgiven another, he can look forward with hope to having his own transgressions forgiven by the Father, on that day he finally reaches Heaven.