The perfect reply to hate is love:
God is love.
The perfect reply to hate is love:
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. - Matt 5:44-45
Great Holy Spirit wisdom, as usual.
IIRC, Winkie sp? Pratney has a teaching . . . about how we need to respond with an opposite attitude, tone, Spirit when assaulted etc.
But it's hard for most of us. Why? I think part of it is CONTROL. It means giving up CONTROL. And most of us born and reared amidst divorce; ATTACHMENT DISORDER generating childhood; etc. have major spiritual and psychological challenges overcoming the insecurities fostered by such. The result is generation after generation of CONTROL FREAKS.
That makes it hard to LET GO AND LET GOD. But abandoning our security, our all to God is the ONLY way we CAN LOVE others regardless. . . . especially, our enemies.
OTHERWISE, we are compulsively convined that the only way we can protect ourselves from pain is to be CONTROLLING and aggressive etc. Trouble is, it virtually always results in MORE PAIN--especially long term.
God's way is not always pain free. But it is certainly less painful than any other way.
One of the pains tends to be fear of LOSS. We can fear losing power, influence, access, substance, sanity, belonging . . . But IF ALL those are NOT secure in JESUS, IN GOD, BY HIS SPIRIT, then there is not hope with any of them anyway. And IF we are secure in JESUS regardless . . . then there need be no anxiety, fear.
I'm not always there either, on all issues in all situations. Mercifully, God has enabled me to love my enemies. And, it has made a lot of difference.
Abandonment to God can be scary. Not abandoning will end up far scarier.
I am called to love Calvin; I am not called to like him.