Abbot Isaac was teaching a group of us Chapter 4 from the Rule of St. Benedict. “Do not hold a grudge. Do not return evil for evil. Do no wrong to anyone and bear patiently those wrongs done to you by others. Love your enemies.” The Abbot suggested the way to love your enemies was not to have enemies. Is that possible?

I try not treat anyone as my enemy, but what should I do when someone treats me as an enemy? I have faced several people who went out of their way to make my life a misery. Frankly, they were bullies. I ended up doing what Chris Makepeace did in the movie My Bodyguard: got someone bigger than me to take care of the bully. I felt justified because the bullies were attacking other people as well. I told myself I was protecting the innocent. Nevertheless, the whole business still haunts me. I don’t want to get revenge on the bullies, but I still resent them.

The ideal is that I should love the people who treated me as an enemy. Sadly, I am not there. Jesus’ command to love my enemies has a humbling effect on me. When I get self-righteous and think that I am the epitome of Christ’s followers, I am reminded how deficient I am even in this one area of forgiving enemies. Maybe this kind of spiritual shortcoming is a good thing. It tells me how much I need the grace of our merciful Savior. He never treats me as an enemy.

Read Matthew 5:43-45 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne