When He tells us to love our enemies He gives, along with the command, the love itself.
Interpretation
Loving our enemies is a divine command that comes with the strength to fulfill it.
In the quote by Corrie Ten Boom, she emphasizes the profound idea that when we are instructed to love our enemies, we are also graciously provided with the capacity and spirit to do so. This speaks to the transformative power of love, suggesting that divine guidance not only commands us to act lovingly but also equips us with the resources and motivation to carry it out, even towards those who oppose us.
In practice
During a sermon on compassion, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of unconditional love.
We never know how God will answer our prayers, but we can expect that He will get us involved in His plan for the answer. If we are true intercessors, we must be ready to take part in Godβs work on behalf of the people for whom we pray.
And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things too. Don't run out ahead of Him.
If you want to hear God's voice clearly and you are uncertain, then remain in His presence until He changes this uncertainty. Often much can happen during this waiting for the Lord. Sometimes, He changes pride into humility; doubt into faith and peace; sometimes lust into purity. The Lord can and will do it.
And for all these people alike, the key to healing turned out to be the same. Each had a hurt he had to forgive.
Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.
God never measures the mind... He always put His tape measure in the HEART
Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.
Ah, I am the judge of dreams, and you are the judge of love. Well, I find you guilty of dreaming good dreams, and sentence you to a lifetime of working and suffering for the sake of your dreams. I only hope that someday you won't declare me innocent of the crime of loving you.
who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words compelle intrare, compel them to come in, have been so abused by wicked men that we shudder at them; but, properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of man, and His compulsion is our liberation.
Something feels weird," he told Laura. That wasn't the first thing he said to her. The first thing was "I love you," because it's a good thing to say if you can mean it, and Shadow did.
If one wanted to depict the whole thing graphically, every episode, with its climax, would require a three-dimensional, or, rather, no model: every experience is unrepeatable. What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space.
Don't weep, insects -- Lovers, stars themselves, Must part.
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