XXII. Любовь к врагам

“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who misuse you and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:44–45, Luke 6:27–28). “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink: for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:20–21). “See to it that no one repays evil for evil; but always seek what is good for one another and for everyone” (1 Thess. 5:15). “Jesus said (about the crucifiers): Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). And being stoned, (the first martyr) Stephen prayed for those who were killing him, “and, kneeling down, he exclaimed in a loud voice: Lord! Do not count this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Love for enemies and good deeds shown to them on the day of the Last Judgment will be intercession and great atonement for sins (Conversation 4 on the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1). Love for enemies opens the doors of hope in order to come to God (Ibid.). Nothing appeases God more than love for enemies and doing good to those who do evil (Conversation 85 on the Evangelist John, chapter 18). Praying to God against enemies is contrary to the law of God (Psalm 4). The enemies who have received benefits from us will be our helpers on the Day of Judgment (Conversation 3 about David and Saul). Friends do not bring us as much benefit through praise as through reproach from enemies (Ibid.). To love your enemies, to do good to them and to pray for their salvation is a great atonement for sins (Conversation 4 on the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1). Discourse on love for enemies It is a difficult, I admit, a difficult task for our corrupted nature to love our enemies, but this is what the Christian position requires; and what love is is said in the discussion about love for one’s neighbor. Enemies here mean people who do us harm. Reasons why you should love your enemies First. Our true enemy is one - the devil, who teaches people to persecute us, and so for the most part he is the cause of our suffering, and not people; He persecutes and torments us through people, and we should hate him, and sympathize with people for listening to him. Second. Enemies persecute or revile us not without God’s permission; they are like a scourge with which God punishes us, as the story of Saint David shows. Third. Enemies who persecute, slander and slander do us more good than evil; for although they cause suffering to the body, they bring benefit to the soul. They also humble us, they overthrow our pride, vanity, and self-conceit, bringing us to the knowledge of ourselves and our weakness. Fourth. This is how our sins are cleansed when we endure the persecution of them (enemies) with thanksgiving. Fifth. It often happens that Satan, being himself unable to tempt a person, tries through people to tempt and lead away from the patience and love of Christ, as we read in the holy books, and this is a sign of a Christian who struggles and is in the grace of God. Sixth. Our enemies lead us to patience - a virtue that cannot be learned without troubles - and make us skilled in the Christian calling: they tempt us with sorrow, “and temptation, according to the Apostle, produces patience” (James 1:3). Seventh. Love for enemies gives boldness in prayer: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Eighth. Our conscience becomes calmer when we not only do not take revenge on our enemies, but also do good to them, for revenge is evil and contrary to the law of God. So, when we take revenge, then we sin and irritate our conscience, which causes anxiety in our conscience. Ninth. Just as fire is not extinguished by fire, so anger is not overcome by anger, but is inflamed even more; and through meekness the most ferocious enemies often bow down, soften and are reconciled. Tenth. Christ the Son of God, the Deliverer, our Savior, Who laid down His life for us, wants and commands to love our enemies: “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). And whoever loves Christ will do what the Beloved wants. Eleventh. He Himself showed His love for His enemies when He loved us, His enemies, so much that He laid down His soul for us. Twelfth. Only the Christian soul can overcome the malice of enemies with goodness. “If,” says Christ, “you love those who love you, what is your reward?.. Don’t the pagans do the same?” (Matthew 5:46–47). Thirteenth. With this virtue we become like God the Heavenly Father, Who “commands His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), Who overcomes our anger with His goodness and endures us. Fourteenth. A great promise is given for love for enemies, to be the son of God: “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:45). If an earthly monarch promised to take you as his son, you would do everything willingly, no matter what he commanded you. Christ the Son of God promises to make you a son of God for loving your enemies, how can you not love them? Fifteenth. High virtue is love for enemies; for this is how a person conquers himself, triumphs over himself. Thus, with the spirit of humility pride is trampled upon, kindness and meekness drives away anger; Thus the spirit of wickedness in high places with all its evil hordes is put to shame. About this “there is joy in heaven among the angels of God” (Luke 15:10); Christ the Son of God looks favorably on this virtue from heaven and bestows a beautiful crown on the conqueror. If someone says: “How can I love someone who is at enmity with me and causes me harm?”, I answer him: First. Hate the enmity, not the person; destroy his hatred, which is destroyed by love and patience. Second. Think of him not as your enemy, but think that he is your brother, a creation of God, a man created in the image of God, redeemed by the Blood of the Son of God, called to the same eternal bliss; instigated by the devil, and not of his own accord, persecutes you; and so place the blame on that enemy. Third. Do not reason about what he does to you, but reason about what you should do with him, and what the law of Christ commands, and how to make peace with him. Fourth. Pray to the One who commanded you to love your enemies, to give you the spirit of love and meekness - to overcome natural evil. Fifth. Remember the above reasons when anger incites you to hatred and revenge. How to love your neighbor The apostle speaks about this: “My children! let us love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18). Love must be in the heart, and not on the tongue, and it must be shown in deeds, and not just in words: otherwise there will be hypocritical love. He who has love in his heart, seeing his brother’s need, helps him. Discourse on love in general The property of love is that it connects the lover with the beloved. So God, because He loves man, united with man, and became man, and took upon Himself all the infirmities, illnesses, and disasters of man, in order to thus bring man to well-being. So a person, when he loves God, is united with God, Divine, and not carnal, filled with the Spirit of God, led by the Spirit of God; and since he is filled with the loving Spirit of God, then with the same Spirit he shows his neighbor the fruits of love. He is meek, long-suffering, kind, merciful, merciful, compassionate, with those who weep he weeps, with those who are sick he suffers, with those who mourn he grieves, with those who rejoice he rejoices, with the poor he suffers; in a word, he considers his neighbor’s well-being to be his well-being, and his neighbor’s misfortune to be his misfortune. From which it follows that he diligently and in every way tries to help the shortcomings and misfortunes of his neighbor, and thus, as if he devotes himself to his neighbor, and unites himself with him. Oh, if there was such love in us, then we would certainly be like one house, or one family of the Heavenly Father, honest, prosperous, calm, peaceful, rejoicing in our Father, and pleasing Him, and we would lead a heavenly life on earth. This is what I earnestly wish for both myself and everyone. Self-love here means immeasurable love for oneself. Through self-love, a person resists the entire law of God; for “the whole law and the prophets consist in these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40), according to the word of Christ: “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart,” and so on, “and your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). First. All sin and iniquity; and the greater the self-love, the greater and more numerous sins one is guilty of. Second. In the next century there will be eternal sadness and torment: then a person will see his shame and his abomination, and he will become vile to himself, will hate himself, and will want to turn into nothing, or die, but will not be able to - this state is called eternal death. You might be interested in: