cvanwey
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- May 10, 2018
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As given, but let me add about "love even the ones who harm them" -- it's not necessarily the immediate response, because first comes forgiving them. Now, forgiving is indeed though a part of love, or an aspect. We forgive those we love more readily, and we love those we forgive more readily. When a person harms you before you hardly know them, before you love them, then the first step is to forgive them.
Forgiving isn't ignoring the wrong done. It's letting go of the resentment or desire for paying them back, for one thing. And a more full forgiveness includes truly forgiving in the heart, which sometimes isn't easy at first, and can take time, or help, or Aid (from above) if really hard to do.
Forgiving doesn't mean I ignore what the person did wrong. Example: if someone steals a pencil, you don't leave another pencil out where they could steal it the next day, even if you forgive them. Example: if they took something I told them and used it to belittle me, then I'd reasonably not tell them any more personal things, even while I forgive them. So, forgiving doesn't mean I become a repeated victim, but rather that I get free of what they did. I overcome what they did, through grace, and gain freedom from their wrongful action. I'm healed in effect. If they meant to harm, the harm they meant fails.
Okay, now I will only slightly modify my prior response:
Why does, or how does a human, telling people to [forgive and then] love even the ones whom harm them, prove He rose from the dead?
I don't see too much difference either way. But the gist is this... I really don't see how anyone telling others to [forgive]/love everyone, no matter what, would in any way, steer us towards the truth that this particular person is a Messiah?
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