Enemies

I read this today and was so moved by it. It's the biggest lesson I've had to learn over the past year. Praying for people who have hurt me, or who have hurt those I love... it's one of the hardest things to do, and yet it's definitely the most heart-changing. God brings me alongside Him and shows me His love for me and for others. He gently and lovingly reminds me that He called me to Him, even when I wanted nothing to do with Him. He rescued me, and tells me to pray for others that need rescuing as well.

"The first thing we are called to do when we think of others as our enemies is to pray for them. This is certainly not easy. It requires discipline to allow those who hate us or those toward whom we have hostile feelings to come into the intimate center of our hearts. People who make our lives difficult and cause us frustration, pain, or even harm are least likely to receive a place in our hearts. Yet every time we overcome this impatience with our opponents and are willing to listen to the cry of those who persecute us, we will recognize them as brothers and sisters too. Praying for our enemies is therefore a real event, the event of reconciliation. ...There is probably no prayer as powerful as the prayer for our enemies. But it is also the most difficult prayer since it is contrary to our impulses." ~ Henri Nouwen