The second greatest commandment of all and Jesus added a codicil , to love your enemies not just friends as even sinners love those close to them . A tall order in a society where relationships are fragile and even the very best friends can soon become enemies, if there is a small misstep. None of us can qualify to be blameless or without sin, especially when we apply such a difficult commandment . Who amongst us can even try to emulate Jesus, the commandment of loving our neighbour, leave alone our enemies.
Often it would be just a small mistake that we are quick to judge, resulting in the immediate exclusion of the culprit from our lives. We see this pattern, especially on social media , we notice how certain members of a group are sidelined for slights they may have knowingly or unknowingly committed. of which they are sometimes even unaware . We set high standards for others and seldom feel the necessity to follow the same .
An incident that occurred a few weeks ago comes to mind, a perfect example. A dear friend from the past, I did not greet this year on her birthday, for she did not acknowledge the last greetings I sent. However, on my birthday, she sent special greetings, though I had ignored her . That is not the end of the story. Being busy on my birthday and several days thereafter, I did not notice her greetings nor did I acknowledge it . Many days later I saw her birthday wishes and felt most guilty .
Was it not for the same reason I had been offended, which now seemed trivial ? For it is obvious it could not have been deliberate but just oversight. I had mercilessly condemned her not giving her the benefit of doubt. I had presumed it was an intentional act of omission meant as an insult . Feeling convicted, I realised it was my Lord showing me what a hypocrite I was for needlessly blaming someone for what was unintentional.
How many of our friends and acquaintances have we turned away from, stopped speaking to, never trying to resolve what we thought was a hurtful comment, a damaging act, which probably was not even intended to be that . Let us try to bridge those chasms, restore and heal broken relationships with family and friends before we try to love our enemies.
In conclusion I felt the following passage was relevant.
Matthew 7:3-5
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Mary Jacob 