ВРАГИ

(see also: Swearing). The Spirit of God, commanding through the mouth of David complete hatred of invisible spiritual enemies, teaching us to resort to prayer to God for contrition and destruction of them, at the same time demands from us love for our enemies - men, demands forgiveness of the insults inflicted on us from our neighbors, demands this with the invocation: “O Lord my God,” the Psalmist prays, “if I have done this, if there is unrighteousness in my hand, if I reward those who repay me with evil, so that I may fall away from my enemies; let the enemy take my soul in marriage, and let him overwhelm and trample my belly into the ground, and place my glory in the dust” (Ps. 7:4-6). Here are two sides that do evil: fellow humans and devils. The Holy Spirit teaches us that by taking vengeance, repaying one's neighbor evil for evil - with words, or deeds, or thoughts - a person calls upon himself the battle of an invisible enemy, victory, overthrow by him, loss of grace. “Glory” is the grace of the Spirit. “He who prays for people who cause offense,” said St. Mark the Ascetic, “crushes demons; but he who disputes with the first is crushed by the second.” You have experienced all this through your own experience. So, reject all excuses, which are all wrong, because they oppose the commandment of God; try without fail to acquire love for your enemies, and until you are able to take this stronghold, “strengthen your battle,” constant battle, repeat attacks after attacks. That is, pray for those from whom you are suffering, and fulfill what the Lord commanded regarding your enemies at the end of the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew - you will certainly receive healing! In due time, the banner of victory, the banner of the Cross of Christ, will begin to flutter on the walls of your Jerusalem. 158. You might be interested in: