Love your enemies

This weekend we were taught about loving your enemies. I've heard it a million times before. How ideal to be able to forgive and move on from any stressful heavy situation. To look the man who verbally assaulted you in the eye and say, it's going to be alright. I will pray for you.

We all know that that is hard, and near impossible. We get caught up in moments, moments that, usually, we are proud of after the fact. I think that's ok. As long as we recognize that it's wrong. Realizing you're getting angry at someone is a great time to recognize that it's time to walk away. To use the excuse of getting caught up in the moment, over and over, is wrong because it means you know what you're doing, and you're not trying to change the situation. There's no harm in walking away. This is hard for a man to say, and yes I'm not that masculine, but I still have testosterone pumping through my blood. No man wants to be inferior. But I believe that's where the problem is.

We are raised to think walking away makes us weak. The ability to say, "this situation is not where I need to be right now, nothing good will come of it." I challenge anyone to walk away. See how easy it is. I'd say it's the most difficult choice we could make. It's also the right choice. Now if someone is attacking Ashley do I need to respond, yes! If I cannot simply walk away because I have been jumped on, it's ok to defend yourself, but I believe that this is appropriate to an extent. When the person is off of you and you can get away. GET AWAY.

These are extreme examples. I think what the real problem is is verbal assault. If there is an argument. End it. Simple. If it's only ugly, end it. We only regret the nasty things we say. Even if it feels good immediately, it's another human being we were talking to. After that sermon I messaged a guy that I hadn't talk to for a year. I told him that the way I acted was regretful. That I'd forgiven us both for the things we'd said. That I wished we could be civil again if not friends. It was simple. Forgive and forget. Yes it took me a year, but there's no need for me to harbor anger about that situation any longer. He was my enemy. The only person that I refused to be around. I don't know what came of it, he told a friend he didn't know how to respond. Whether or not we become friends again, at least I let him know that I didn't hate him. That's what really matters.

I also want talk about something else that was said in the sermon. A rough account of what he said was, "don't do this because you think Jesus will look down on you and say THAT'S MY BOY!, no, he said, do it because when those people look at you they will realize that you have something greater in your heart. Something that no one can take from you."

That is awesome. My grandmother is the sweetest woman literally in the world. She gives and gives and gives. All of her time, all of her money. She attends churches filled with tattooed men and battered women because that is where she wants to tithe. That is where she thinks people need the money, that she does not. My mother and aunts talk about how she should spend more time on herself, how she is being used by other people. My grandmother is an inspiration. What she does is for a purpose greater than all of us. She has always been that person that kept me clinging on to the little bit of faith that I've always harbored. Not the aunts that go to church twice a week, not the friends that are in all of the church plays and participate in all of the church mission trip. No. My grandmother was always my source of strength in faith. I thank her for that.

and yes, I did just go on a tangent about my grandmother that she will never see :) Good day to you all.