Jesus told us to both love and even pray for our enemy. But
why is that? What was the purpose of Jesus telling us Christians to do
that?
What I think: I think Jesus wanted us to pity
them. An enemy who only knows hatred is someone to be pitied. Thus
you pray for them to find peace that does not use violence and bloodshed which
inherently begets more. There is also the notion that by praying for your
enemy, you can pray that they are enlightened to stop whatever foolish notions
or fighting they are committing. Thus, they are better able to negotiate
with and a possible future trust out of the ashes of conflict can come about.
The naive answers: Jesus never wanted us to look down
upon others, hence his quote "may the first without sin cast the first
stone". So we do not look down upon the enemy, but respect them for
their prowess. We do not wish them dead for then would they not wish us
dead? Wishing ill harm to others can and possibly will bring ill harm
unto yourself. So any of the negatives where you wish harm or ill fortune
and looking down upon the "enemy" as pathetic rather than basic pity
is from my perspective a non-starter.
Conclusion: Praying that once a conflict is
over, that you can get alone with your former adversaries is good. Asking
God to enlighten them to halt their path of destruction is also good. In
short, the purpose of praying and even loving your enemy is to understand that
you will not always be enemies. Are we not supposed to be above the
foolish notions of hatred and twisted revenge? Yes you are allowed to
defend yourself from harm, but not if you become as violent and horrid as those
who had attacked you wrongfully in the first place. And thus why we pray
for the conflict to end in a way that lets us acquire the peace we seek, not
the peace forced upon us by desperation of war and hatred.
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