Though I don’t call myself Christian, I love Jesus and the central tenet of this work, and I believe in all of human conflict resolution, is not even our ability, but simply our sincere commitment, to love our enemies… as Jesus taught.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Jesus Christ / Matthew 5 : 44
This is unpalatable to a heck of a lot of us, especially many calling themselves Christians, no doubt.
Most of us seem to feel a great revulsion towards this. We rationalize it away or treat it as a throwaway comment that Jesus said… brushing it off and pretending it’s not of significance.
As I see it however, it’s the central commandment of Jesus Christ, and central principle of the Golden Rule.
Love our neighbor as ourselves includes our enemies.
In future posts, I’ll elaborate what “love” means to give us a clearer delineation.
But mind you, I do believe with the strongest conviction that a commitment to “love our enemies” is the single greatest (if not only) representation of our maturity in dealing with conflict.
If we’re lacking this (most difficult) commitment, we’ve missed the very source of power and essence of this work.
If we have this commitment, even if nothing else, we’ve nailed the central gift we offer humanity in peacemaking.
To note: Just because we have such a commitment, it does not mean our journey is ended. Rather, it means our real journey in bringing greater understanding to each other, and in our evolution as a human being, can finally begin.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Jesus Christ / Matthew 5:9
Perspective Mapper
Ranjeeth Thunga