Loving "Thy Enemy"
With recent events in mind, Jean-Marie will address the challenging task of loving "thy enemy," as Jesus Christ commanded.
How can we love when every fiber of our being is repulsed by the behavior we witness? What can we do to truly embrace Jesus Christ's number one commandment to not only love one another but our enemy as well?
Experience the Sermon
Sermon Notes
Main Scripture
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 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; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters,[o] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43–48)
Supporting Scripture
“First, we must recognize abundance as an idea that is real and has the power to expand. Then, we must talk abundance--choose words representing abundance--and thus build up an invisible world of substance. In this way, we build or form in our mind that which draws to us an abundance of every good thing.” —Charles Fillmore; Revealing Word
“Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.” (Luke 8:18).
“Do not envy the violent and do not choose any of their ways;” (Proverbs 3:31)
“This means that his enemies are his enemies second, his own brothers and sisters first.” (Tao the Ching, 31)
“Now, austerity, charity, sincerity, non-violence, and truthfulness are the gifts, one can give in life.” —Chandogya Upanishad 3.17.4
Quotes
“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” —The Dalai Lama
“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“To paraphrase several sages: Nobody can think and hit someone at the same time.” —Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others
“It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, "Wait on time.” ―Martin Luther King Jr.
“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. ” ―Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ