Turning enemies into friends

August 25, 2015 | 16 comments

“We must love our enemies in all the manifestations wherein and whereby we love our friends; must even try not to expose their faults, but to do them good whenever opportunity occurs.”

~ Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings, p. 11

It takes an understanding of divine Love to effectively practice this statement of truth.

Its expression requires a combination of being wiser than serpents, not casting your pearls before swine, forgiving seventy times seven, going the second mile, and never extracting an eye for an eye. It is the ultimate in demonstrating the power and influence of divine Love.

Jesus did it.

His final statement of how to do it was on the cross in the words he extended to his persecutors, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Jesus parted that crucifying experience with love in his heart toward one and all. And that love has continued to convert billions of hearts from hardness to love centuries later.

It works today.

Just love. It’s the healing way.

16 thoughts on “Turning enemies into friends”

  1. Loving you enemies is the task of true courage, the fruitage of which is true progress separating the wheat from the shaft. Doing this helps our fellow mankind to separate themselves from the error of false belief to see their true God created expression.

  2. In addition, don’t we need to do protective work for the evil they do against us?
    Doesn’t it go hand in hand with what you said?

    1. Oh yes. The “protective work,” is disarming evil of any power in our mind. It’s our being clear that evil has no power and understanding the reason why. It’s knowing that God is Almighty Power leaving no room, space of place for evil to operate. You are correct. This kind of mental defense work should be done every day, ideally at the very beginning of the day so we don’t forget later on!

  3. We must mentally separate the evil from every person we come in contact with or else we are not practitioning C/S to it’s fullest. All of us are reflections of God’s creation, nothing less and nothing more.

  4. To remember who we all are spiritually, created in the image of Love, no matter what idea is being manifested, helps me to love and fan the flame of good and let it come forth in a person. there were share together the truth of our beings. It doesn’t mean we ignore the behavior but recognize its nothingness. I can do this with effort in my life but I do not know how people in the Middle East with all the terror, can do it.

    1. Nadine, You can know this for any evil, even for those in the middle east. Our acknowledgment of Love’s power is for all mankind. I’ve been inspired to see that to abolish fear and hatred we have to know that there is not a single God-like expression that can be hated or feared. We are all under the jurisdiction of the one Mind. God is not about hate and fear.♡

  5. ok separate the evil from the person – but don’t we have to take it a step further and protect ourselves from the evil itself, attacks and more?

  6. Thanks for the message! I have been working to separate actions from people recently, and am grateful to have learned to not take things personally.

    However I will say, as to not exposing their faults – of course it’s important to focus on the real, spiritual person, and not give reality to inharmony; but sometimes error must be uncovered. MBE talks about confronting error, although I forget where.

    1. Yes, sin needs to be uncovered, but let the divine Love you express do the uncovering. The effect will be much better. The danger is when we let pride, human will, self-righteousness or any type of mortal ego get involved. Then there is usually more conflict, more suffering, more hurt. Love always finds the best way to reform the sinner and bring them to a better place. That’s what Jesus did. He loved the evil right out of his neighbor.

      1. Hi E.

        Thank you so much for your follow up comment 25 August…. Yes we can very often do the the uncovering so easily especially for another but forget that as Jesus said “I do nothing of myself”

        That self I take to be the mortal self. As a passage in this weeks lesson so succinctly says, ‘Meekness and charity have divine authority.’ S&H 270:23-24

  7. There is One God, and One Man. That leaves nothing to fight, harm or hate.

    Mis. 9:9-10 “Love thine enemies” is identical with “Thou hast no enemies.”
    Mis. 10:4 We (only) We have no enemies.
    Mis. 10:27-28 Heaven comes down to earth, and mortals learn at last the lesson, “I have no enemies.”

  8. Appreciate this topic and comments. I had the privilege of being the target of much hatred a few years ago as I worked on a wonderful project that would benefit our whole community. After much prayer and conviction that Mind was all that was in control, I found myself before the leader of the opposition for a one on one conversation. Though I was nervous at first, I knew this was Love guiding us and was confident that Mind was in control. A passage from Psalms came to me: ‘The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted’. I expressed only Truth in that conversation. I truly loved the person and saw only his good qualities. The evil never touched me and, in fact, was powerless when face to face with Truth. Truth destroyed it then and there and it just faded away. I continue to be grateful for this lesson.

  9. I’ve been blessed by so many of the thoughts that everyone has shared today.

    The last few days at work I have had constant feelings of uneasiness and worry (don’t know why) and some of the comments come as a prayer answered.

    Thank you!

  10. Thanks, Evan, this message is very timely. I especially appreciate the thought to not even want to expose their faults. I have been working to sincerely love someone who caused me and others a lot of distress. It’s been tempting to want to share the details, but your blog has clarified to me that this would be not be in line with divine Love. “Love is reflected in Love” and this is all I need to express!

  11. Its so easy to love the ones who love you and do you good. But loving those who do not love you or have harmed you or do not wish well for you, is difficult. But the road leading to God is never easy. We are forgiving and loving because we love God, who wants us to love each other. When we do something for the love of God, He supports and strengthens us and makes our way easy. Whenever I have found it difficult to forgive, I say to myself “God you love me and you want me to love everyone. So in your name and for the love of you, I forgive the person concerned.”
    Secondly if we know the truth about everyone as the pure and innocent child of God, then we will understand that nothing unlike God – good, ever exists. We will see the unreality of evil and the reality of good in everyone. Its a tall order, in which you need to rise above the material sense and use your spiritual sense. The spiritual sense bears witness to the truth of God’s perfect, innocent and pure child of God – made in His own image and likeness.

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