Love All, Loved By All

Do you love all, and are loved by all?  If not, you'd better pay attention to the following.

Are you a sourpuss with grudges, anger, & enemies?

Can you love your enemies? In Matthew 5:43-44, Jesus added this to the Commandments for Christians:

 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

God's End Times process may be starting very soon, perhaps Nov. 30, 2018 or sooner.

If you have enemies and Grid-Down occurs during God's End Times process (ie. no electricity, phones, TV, Internet, stoplights, transit, water, sewer, food deliveries, etc.), governmental authorities will no longer be able to prevent or settle petty disputes, nor intervene on major crimes.  What is preventing your enemies from seizing this ripe opportunity to settle an old score?

On this basis alone, it's likely a good idea to bury the hatchet soon.  If you aren't worried about the possible consequences of enemies today (ie. you currently have the overwhelming advantage in any battle that may occur today), what happens if your fortune reverses, and you suddenly become poor, sick, lose your position of power, or slowly become old?

Remember, the opposite of love is not hate.  The true opposite of love is indifference (ie. "I just don't care!").  If you can't bring yourself to love at this moment, at least avoid indifference.

If no consequences arise from your anger and trespassing against others during your lifetime, perhaps you should consider what Jesus said in Matthew 6:14–15:

"If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

If God doesn't forgive your trespasses because you have failed to forgive the trespasses of others against you, then you will have residual sins when you stand before God at the Great White Throne, which means you will be judged sinful and go directly to the Lake of Fire for eternal suffering.  Claiming you know and believe in Jesus Christ won't save you from this terrible fate.  Jesus is quite clear that those who claim to know Him, but live in chronic sin, don't really know Him, and will be turned away from Heaven and thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternal suffering. (see Matthew 7:21-23, 1 John 2:3-6, and Blog: Know Your Sins, Transgressions & Iniquities).

Loving someone doesn't mean you have to put yourself into harms way.  Everybody, including true Christians need to keep a safe distance between themselves and Satan, killers, rapists, con artists, abusive family members, and all other risky people.  Rebuke the sins you uncover, and if they confess and repent, forgive them their transgression.

Do you have mutually reciprocal animosity of hate-hate with your enemies, or is it sometimes one-sided?  In other words:

• Are there some people who consider you to be their enemy, but you are unaware they have strongly negative feelings towards you?


• Are there good Christians who turn the other cheek, accepting you in spite of your anger and bad behaviours towards them?  The more they persist in treating you nicely in spite of the evil you spew at them, the more you see them as weak, Goody-Two-Shoes, and deserving of bullying and abuse?
• Do you hate or despise some people in secret, while pretending to be their friend?

If it's a 1-sided hate (ie. you are neutral or loving towards them, but they have a passionate hate on for you, and you know it), are you safe from the Lake of Fire?

I'm not so sure.  They obviously hold a grudge, so according to Matthew 6:14-15, they are damned to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.  You know they are damned by their grudge against you.  Do you have a sliver of glee, or a stone-cold heart about their terrible fate?  Either way, that may not be seen as a fully Christian attitude when you get to the Great White Throne Room.  I suggest you do everything within your power to help the other person overcome their animus towards you.

Under Takiyya, Quran 3:28 and 16:106 permits strategic lies to non-Muslims so that Muslims can protect themselves, their community, or Islam.  In the Bible, people were praised for choosing to oppose evil by concealing the truth from wicked people (see the lying midwives in Exodus 1, and Joshua 2:4–5 for the lies by Rehab about the Hebrew spies within Jericho).  Other than that, love (and/or "tough love") requires open and honest communication.  Truth should be done in a kind and loving manner; not harsh nor used as a weapon.

By writing his, I just realized that I know a few people who may have a grudge against me, even though I wish they didn't.  I guess I have some work to do too, and soon.

In business, I had the opportunity to travel all around the world.  A few foreigners have told me that Canadians are recognized the world-over for being Olympic Gold Metal contenders for passive-aggressive behaviours.  Most Canadians are very nice and polite, but never cross a Canadian, as many Canadians have long memories, and will likely get even when the opportunity presents itself.

Therefore Canadians may need to take a lesson from Jesus' book more than other citizens of this wicked world.

Alan Jacobs, a professor at Baylor University, wrote the book How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds.  Listen to an excellent CBC Radio Podcast about his ideas.

Paraphrasing Alan Jacob's ideas and combining it with Jesus' Commandment, I suggest the following for avoiding the creation of enemies, and to extinguish past fires:

1. Listen so as to understand without judging.


2. Count to 10.  While counting, DO NOT think about where you disagree, or how to defeat the other person's position.  Instead, think about where you agree, or have similar values, shared starting points, or win-win opportunities.


3. Immediately feed back the positives.  If necessary, ask a clarification question in a open, fair, non-judgemental manner to ensure you fully understand their position.


4. If, in spite of the first two steps, you get hot under the collar, or want to press your side of the issue, stop and count to 10 again.  Request the necessary time to fully consider the other person's point of view.  Use the break period to cool off, and reflect on the other person's point of view to your confidants, family, and friends; faithfully presenting the other person's view in the best possible light as their faithful agent while they are absent.


5. When you're ready, come back together with your new found friend who can work co-operatively with you so as to keep both of you from suffering forever in the Lake of Fire.

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