Thursday, October 20, 2005

THE WAY OF PEACE


"Christians love their enemies because God does so, and commands his followers to do so. That is the only reason, and that is enough."

John Howard Yoder

3 comments:

Ciona said...

Digging the new photograph, Jonathan! Stick with the bowtie!

Way to just be frank, Yoder. I think of that phrase in terms of war because we are actually harming our "enemies." But I have old friends whom I don't like anymore or care to talk to at all. Doing what God commands is a lot easier when I'm writing letters to politicians.

Lenny Anderson said...

the question is, what is the best way to show love to your enemies in various circumstances?

John said...

Zoomdaddy, I think that a useful first step is to pray for God's unreserved blessings on your enemies. This is one of my disciplines. I name certain people who have hurt me badly and pray for God to prosper them spiritually and (here's the really hard one) materially.

By praying this continuously, I find that I love more and hate less.