How Can We Pray For Our Enemies?

Especially within a society such as ours, which distorts love into lust, the ability to recognize and display the gift of love is essential. Selfish love, which is so inherent to humanity, inhibits God from acting in our lives, blinding us from experiencing His presence and eternal joy. It is so easy to look for pleasure and love in self satisfaction. However, the path to lasting happiness is not found through instant gratifications, but in the grueling practice of living a life full of

PRAISE BE TO THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA THE BEGINNING AND THE END. I GIVE YOU THANKS AND PRAISE FOR YOUR GOODNESS, YOUR MERCY, AND YOUR GRACE. I GIVE YOU THANKS FOR A MIND TO PRAY, A HEART TO SEEK YOUR FACE, AND THE AUTHORITY TO BRING MY MEMBERS UNDER SUBJECTION. I THANK-YOU FOR THIS MOMENT AND THE OPPORTUNITY EACH DAY BRINGS, I KNOW THAT EACH DAY IS SPECIAL AND I HAVE POWER, FULFILLMENT, AND UNLIMITED ,POTENTIAL. THERE ARE NO CEILING’S ON MY LIFE, OBSTACLES THAT CANNOT BE OVERCOME, NOR BARRIERS THAT STAND IN MY WAY. IN FACT THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE, AND I AM FREE TO EXERCISE ALL OF THE GIFTS AND TALENTS YOU HAVE BLESSED ME WITH. MY HOPES AND

Men and women throughout the ages have desired to love others the way the greatest commandment instructs us to. However, due to our sinful nature, overshadowed by the fear of death and our limited physical and emotional vulnerabilities, the love we should have for one another turns into controlling one another, so that we have power and are in control. Instead of giving, we want. Instead of serving, we demand our rights. And scriptures like Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven in perfect” can be frustrating

Sometimes in a passionate relationship, one is willing to give up their own selfish desires

Our relationships with other people give a strong sense of what our relationship with God is like. How we interact with people on a daily basis and the relationships that we build goes a long way in showing just how we feel about them. In Romans 1:10 we see that Paul wanted desperately to come to Rome to teach, to interact, to fellowship, and build relationships with the Christians that were there. Just as God wants a personal relationship with His creation we all feel a deep need for relationships with each other. It was not meant for man to go through life on his own without being able to interact with each other. We see the genuine love that Paul displayed toward the people and churches throughout his epistles and it should make us want to have an even stronger relationship with our Creator.

In the animal kingdom, reproduction of one's species holds priority for the survival of that genus. Many animals will forgo its necessities for life such as food and water to ensure reproduction. Mammals such as primates and canines have a hierarchy of how they choose their mate. These animals choice there mate by choosing the most dominant and the one desirable features. Only a few primate out of the whole species are completely monogamous, and humans are not consider one of them. In the case of people were take vowel to one another to stay faithful and to contain are urges towards others. In Exodus 20:17 Gods 10 Commandment to the Hebrews, it makes the point to say "You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife"(Bible). Even though we have vowel and rules not to lust after each other, we still fall back into our ancestral instincts. Women look at men like Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Dom DeLouise and men look at such women as Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis, and Melissa McCarthy the find them self-lusting with those ancestral traits.

Society neglects the ability for humans to see actual truths and purpose in their lives, which makes it easy for them to think about themselves and only want to fulfill their own personal desires. These personal desires are contrary to the teachings of Jesus, which includes loving your neighbor, compassion for others, and the desire to serve. Humans in the words of Pedro Arrupe must, “live not for themselves but for God and his Christ Following the teachings of Jesus” (Arrupe 1). Doing this makes one

There is a certain confounding bias or misconception in relationships as they, with closer analysis, usually lead to the idea that even honest characters act disingenuously towards their partners. But before one delves deep into philosophical thought on such vast topics of love and genuineness, it must first be defined. Genuine is defined from a simpld dictionary search as “truly what something is said to be; authentic” or “sincere” in emotions, while love is defined as a person’s “feel [for] a deep romantic or sexual attachment.” Additionally, from a religious standpoint, “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not

I had no regard for the person who would appease my desires; I only cared for myself. This condition of human-selfishness requires change in order for humans to turn out unselfish. Speaking in Augustinian terms: our concerns for ourselves must be redirected toward concerns for our God.

While numerous teachings Jesus conveyed were challenging, many people believe his call for forgiveness to be extremely difficult to practice. It is not easy to pardon, or even love someone who has betrayed us. These sins people commit against can leave behind scars, and it can take a long time in order for our pain to be healed (Saint Mary’s Bible,1456). Moreover, when we have been wronged, it might be tempting to seek revenge against on the person who has done us wrong, to make him or her hurt as we have been. Additionally, if we do not seek vengeance, we might hold onto feelings directed against that person and well into the future. After we have been wounded in a specific way it is difficult to let our guard down and be vulnerable again

especially in times of sadness, despair, or in times of when they have wrongfully sinned and need

There are many stories that revolve around God that if you do something wrong, it seems that you hurt God in the process because they watch over you and are always around you. Our souls are spiritually connected to them when we pray. When we ask for forgiveness from God(s), it gets rid of the negativity you are carrying within your soul. Others think of Forgiveness as a cleansing

The story Till We Have Faces reveals how our selfishness not only damages our relationships with others and our ability to love, it inhibits us to see God’s saving love and his eternal plan.

The lack of generosity that plagues the body of Christ is an attribute that must be detached from the Christians ethos. The very essence of greed is something that must not be named among the body of Christ. It is an antithetical to what God has called the church

This increase of love allows our mind to feel some sort of satisfaction that good can come out of praying and if one was to die, our faith would tell us that we did our best. In other words, our love towards our faith tends to be one of the strongest lifelines we can posses to reduce the guilt and pain of those around us who are suffering.