#love your enemy
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Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.
—Martin Luther King Jr, "Loving Your Enemies," Sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, AL, Nov 17, 1957
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It is time we faced up to the fact that men hate us. We challenge them utterly through our sexuality; they will fight to keep us heterosexual and under their thumbs and control, if they feel that they have lost this they will turn on us with all their venom—and their power is mighty. As lesbians we have gained so little. Is it any wonder that with the might of their power against us we shake with fear and thus try to drown it out in other ways. To escape from it. Or—if we value it, try to recreate it in ourselves.
As lesbians our oppression is 'double' because we have no male protectors or individual policemen to hedge us against the wrath of male power and domination. Once it is known that we do not allow men to own our bodies sexually, they will make all attempts to kick us into submission. Because we present to them, in some part, the freedom that other women may obtain from them. We stand out because we show that it is possible to live autonomously, on a personal level. without men. They cannot bear this. They will retaliate to keep other women from doing so. If they have no power over women then they are powerless. We render them impotent, this realisation for men is their real fear of women.
I wanted to write about separatism, which is something that all lesbians participate in to different degrees (here I am referring to lesbian feminists). It is necessary in our struggle to take away from men as much time and space and energy as possible. Not only because we need an autonomous Women's Liberation Liberation Movement but because that time and space and energy is ours, and men would all too willingly steal it from us in any way possible. Separatism is vital to our existence. It is not always possible for us to be totally separatist but we need to strive towards total separatism because it is our strongest tactic against them. Some women feel that hating men is. I agree that women get much strength from hating men and getting in touch with the anger that this generates. I need to feel my hatred at least once every day. But taking time and energy away from them is even stronger. It means we have more control over ourselves and our own lives—to be able to decide which are the ways we want to work most effectively. They simply cannot stand this. It drives them literally crazy not to get a reaction from us. Our reactions to them give them credulity and power.
-Love Your Enemy? The Debate between Heterosexual Feminism and Political Lesbianism
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43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 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
Matthew 5:43-44
#love your enemy#jesus#faith in jesus#love#faith#holy spirit#jesus christ#god#god is good#holy bible#matthew 5:43-44
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Love Your Enemy | ꜱʜʀɪɴᴋʏᴄʟɪɴᴋꜱ
Pairing; Shrinkyclinks
Word Count; 1.0k
Warnings; hurt/comfort, fluff, nightmare, Bucky's PTSD, descriptions of blood and war, mute!Bucky, pet names
A/N; okay, this is fluffy. FLUFFY - I TELL YOU!
WHUMPTOBER MASTERLIST
Love has many languages, even for those that don’t speak.
Things hadn’t been easy since he’d been forced back home - discharged from his duties as a soldier thanks to a strategically placed IED that cost him his arm.
Civilian life, while filled with almost no excitement in the form of a rifle or gunfire, did not mean that he would be at peace. Because not only did that bomb cost him his arm, it tore from him so much more than he had been willing to lose.
“Hey, Buck,” Steve whispered, opening Bucky’s bedroom door a crack so his mussed mop of blond hair could peek through. The sight of Steve brought Bucky no relief, though. “Are you okay?”
The shadows shrouded him from view like a cloak, a veil that no one, not even his partner, could see through. It was best this way.
“Bucky?”
He winced slightly at the worry in Steve’s tone, his voice coming out as a breathy whisper when it normally would be firm, and strong.
“I know you can hear me,” Steve continued, his small figure edging into the room while Bucky watched from the corner of his room. It was a remarkably impressive feat to even wedge his mountainous frame between the bookshelf and the wall. “Can you just let me know you’re okay? I heard a ruckus.”
The ‘ruckus’ was Bucky waking from yet another nightmare, his wordless scream punctuated by the knocks of the bed frame against the wall when he vaulted from the soft mattress in fear.
Steve, bless him, as Bucky’s Ma would say, was never one to shy away from any danger, and putting yourself into a room with a mute soldier in the midst of a flashback was suicide.
At least, that’s what Bucky had heard the ‘doctor’ tell Steve before Steve was pulling him from the room, a few choice words of his own thrown over his shoulder. Bucky had managed a small smile at that - watching Steve defend him like his brothers in arms would have, it meant more than he could express.
It would have been comical - seeing his 5’4 boyfriend all fired up with the red tinge of anger blooming over his neck in tell-tale indignation, if the circumstances weren’t so dire.
However, Bucky could not help but silently agree with that doctor at this moment, he wasn’t in his right mind with flashes of tanks and guns and explosions blocking his common sense; the ability to distinguish an ally from an enemy, long gone.
He did not want to hurt Steve, he didn’t.
“Buck, c’mon, I know you’re in here,” Steve’s eyes wandered the room, every nook and cranny not left unobserved until, finally, Steve’s ocean eyes met his own - eclipsed and wary.
Bucky hastily signed STOP and Steve froze in place, his eyes gentle and smile soft, encouraging him to go on. NO Bucky signed again, his hands repeating the word over and over until Steve frowned.
“Can you come out of there for me?” Steve asked gently, his small hands gesturing at Bucky’s folded frame. “That can’t be comfortable.”
NO, Bucky signed, a slight shake of his head desperately trying to drive home his meaning; I don’t want to hurt you.
“Okay, well, I’ll come to you.”
Bucky’s eyes went wide on impulse and he shuffled his feet, pushing his back further against the wall and away - away, away, away.
Not one to be dissuaded or discouraged, Steve pushed on slowly. His small hand reached out towards Bucky and Bucky stared at it like it was the muzzle of a gun. Steve’s hand was free from the grit, dirt, and blood that stained Bucky’s own.
For a brief, brief moment, Bucky wondered what it would be like to have Steve’s hands on him, his arms, his shoulders; anywhere that Steve would willingly touch. The thought made Bucky make a small sound of longing, a quiet whimper, and Steve only smiled warmly.
“Am I allowed to touch you, Buck?” Steve’s voice was soft as he closed in even closer.
Before he could stop himself, and guard Steve from the soldier in his mind, Bucky moved forward slightly until the pads of Steve’s fingertips brushed against his own. The softness was startling, but Bucky didn’t pull away. He stared at where their fingertips met with intrigue, a childish wonder of hope and safety, all in Steve’s hands.
“That’s it,” Steve smiled and Bucky’s eyes shifted to look at his face. “You’re doin’ good, Buck, I’m proud of you.”
It was the first contact they’d had in weeks after the sudden onslaught of new nightmares - but Steve never minded, he only cared that Bucky was okay, and God, Bucky wanted touch. He craved it almost as much as he craved safety; only to discover they were one and the same.
Bucky pulled his hand away slowly and signed BACK, which Steve obliged. His fluffy slippered toes slid back until he was out of Bucky’s space, and Bucky could move out of his nook.
“What is it, Buck?” Steve asked softly and Bucky looked down at Steve, his head just reaching Bucky’s shoulders. “What d’you want?”
TOUCH, Bucky signed slowly, his hesitation translating as a stutter.
“Touch?”
Bucky nodded stiffly, watching Steve’s expression shift from one of apprehension to adoration.
Slowly, Steve reached up, and Bucky watched one of his hands inch closer to his face, coming to rest on his stubbled cheek. The urge to flinch and duck away caused his breathing to become shallow, small gasps for air against the suffocating urge to protect himself.
Steve wasn’t the enemy. Bucky’s own mind was.
“You okay?” Steve asked and Bucky blinked slowly, allowing his head to push into Steve’s palm. On buried instinct, Bucky’s hand reached up and covered the back of Steve’s. A small noise of contentment left him at the feel of soft and clean skin against his own. “I know, I know.”
The two of them stood at the foot of Bucky’s dishevelled bed a moment longer - Steve moving his hands over Bucky’s face, neck, and shoulders, while Bucky let it happen. He allowed it to happen.
No more was the fear of hurting Steve, no more was the fear of hurting himself, only the warmth and safety of knowing that touch would help him.
Graphics & Header made by yours truly.
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#whumptober2022#no.25#lost voice#altprompt#touch starved#marvel#fic#hurt/comfort#fluff#nightmare#PTSD#bucky barnes x steve rogers#bucky x steve#stucky#shrinkyclinks#stevebucky#bucky barnes fanfiction#steve rogers fanfiction#rookthorne's works#Love Your Enemy
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“And God said “Love Your Enemy,” and I obeyed him and loved myself.”
- Kahlil Gibran, The Broken Wings
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“Mixed Multitude” Exodus 12:33-42 and Acts 2:5-11, 41-42
I love our “We Cry Justice” reading today (#25 by Daniel Jones) and the hot take on “mixed multitudes.” I loved the MLK quote it started with too, including, Pharaoh '”kept the slaves fighting among themselves.” This “trick” of having most of the resources in a society “float” to the top while leaving the multitudes fighting for the crumbs is well known, and unfortunately still well used. Take a look at governmental budgets and then the people advocating for various just causes – who accidentally end up fighting each other to prove the imperative nature of their own concern AT THE cost of the others. (Fixable, it turns out, by fixing the regressive tax code so it doesn't magnify inequality.)
Mr. Jones points out that Ancient Egypt was “an empire based on violence and injustice that sacrificed lives to the accumulation of wealth and its paranoia, viewed the murder of children as a fair price for keeping control.”1 I can't decide if I should respond “OUCH” or “PREACH” to that one. He goes on to say that the mixed multitude – the Israelites and those who suffered along with them in the empire – built a new society based on God's laws. “This higher law proclaims the accumulation of individual wealth to be immoral and demands freedom for enslaved people, forgiveness of debts, care for the environment, and the responsibility of everyone to their neighbors.” And THAT's why we call it the Promised Land.
The holiness of this mixed multitude, seeking shared goodness for each other instead of competing with each other and creating community out of shared need is found in Acts 2 as well. We normally only focus on Acts 2 on Pentecost, but it is another example that when God's Spirit is at work, people are bonded together across boundaries that might otherwise seem too impossible to cross.
God seems particularly committed to mixed multitudes.
Now this is funny thing to say right now I think. This week I've watched the incredible power of God's spirit move in the intractable-until-now United Methodist Church and all of a sudden there is hope abundant! And, truthfully, that hope abundant comes BECAUSE of disaffiliation, it comes because we split. It comes because we BROKE bonds.
Part of me - ok, a really large part of me – wants to simply say that those who left identified with the oppressor and oppressed God's beloveds and we are better off without them. But God has said to love our enemies, and I'm pretty sure being that petty isn't appropriate for a preacher... while preaching at least ;)
We who value the wide diversity of God's creation may find it easy to hear about the mixed multitudes and the amazing ways God's work to overturn oppression pulls people together. But I also know that we who value the wide diversity of God's creation sometimes find it really hard to deal with those who... don't.
Right?
It's OK, I know I'm right.
It turns out to be easier to be in a mixed multitude where people agree mixed multitudes are awesome than it is to be in a mixed multitude where there is a diversity of opinions about the value of diversity.
Or, maybe there is a bigger truth here. God's amazing work to overcome oppression and pull people together is REAL. But it is hard to live in community – there are ALWAYS differences. I think often of the story a little later in Acts when the incredibly diverse Body of Christ in its infancy already had issues with food distribution being fairly managed. Humans come into community with differences. There is no community without conflict. There is no community without bias. There is no community in prefect agreement – except maybe those who all defer to a strong-man leader.
The truth is that God binds us together. And, I think sometimes we get to the point when the best choice is to let some bonds go. Because not everything is now as it should be. We know this about marriage itself – there are times when two people have hurt each other enough that the best, most loving way forward, is apart. This week showed very clearly that all the dreams I've ever heard God dreaming for The United Methodist Church are possible – now that we're broken. And, to be fair, I hear from those in the Global Methodist Church that they think all the dreams they ever heard God dreaming are now possible there. The issue has ALWAYS been that we hear God differently.
So I've been thinking about what the moral, Christ-like response is to those with whom we have fundamental-values-level-differences. And I hear the echos of Jesus on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” and I think that's the actual start of it. I hear it in Martin Luther King teaching about the goal of his work being to bring everyone together, not to bring down the oppressor. Let's hear him:
Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. “love your enemies.”2
So, dear ones, I'm going to keep on loving the Global Methodist Church, because I deeply believe God asks me to. Further, I believe there are people in that church who need it, and others who will need it. And, apparently, we are supposed to love Christian Nationalists too – even when they misrepresent our tradition. (Pulling no punches today.)
I guess no one every said being a follower of Jesus was easy, huh? But, friends, it is the season of Easter and we are told over and over again that God is Love and Love wins and NOTHING, not even death, can stop God's power of love. So, dear mixed multitude, let's keep on loving on EVERYONE even when they don't seem to know how broad God's love is yet. Let's be accused of being naive with our love. Let's be radical, and a little too broad with it. Let's be like God. Amen
1We Cry Justice #25, page 110.
2https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/loving-your-enemies-sermon-delivered-dexter-avenue-baptist-church
#thinking church#progressive christianity#fumc schenectady#first umc schenectady#umc#schenectady#rev sara e baron#hope#Love Your Enemy#I don't have to apologize for my denomination this week!
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Passion for people: Should that be the why behind what you do?
When we think of passion for people and the two summary commands Jesus provided of Loving God and loving people, shouldn’t love be the why we do what we do? Why do you get up every morning, is it because you love God and love people? Do you get up every morning because of a passion for people and to serve them in a way to glorify God?
Living Out the Greatest Commands
In considering the essence…
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#action#actions#Commitment#covenant#grace#justice#light#Living#Living Hope#love#love God#Love Letter#love one another#love your enemy#loving kindness#obedience#One Year Bible Plan#Passion#Reaction#relationship
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February 13, 2024 Verse Of The Day
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#bless your enemy#despitefully used#do good#hate your enemy#heard it said#love your enemy#love your neighbor#Matthew 5:43-44#persecuted#pray for your enemy#Verse of the Day
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Peacemakers
Everyone hatesHates a peacemakerWho asks usCalmlyTo give upGive up what is rightfully oursFor a greater causeEach otherThat’s why they are blessedCalled the children of God
dw
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Love your Enemy
To love our enemies is to pray for them, Love is more than an emotion that we have no control of. While it may be true that we can't control our feelings e can control our actions. Love is a function of will, not the heart. Violence cannot bring about peace. Our enemies are still God's children loved by him just as we are. God wants us to love not to hate. Complete change does not happen overnight, but it does and can happen one loving heart at a time. Begin with words then move on to actions. words of prayer and love can open the stoniest of hearts.
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Imitate the Right Use of Power (1 Corinthians 4:14-20)
Power is a lot like sex. Everyone wants it, but not everyone respects it and uses it well.
I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus,…
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#1 corinthians#1 corinthians 4#authority#character#christ&039;s power#christian character#christian faith#christian life#christian love#christianity#example#faith#first corinthians#imitate#love#love one another#love your enemy#love your neighbor#power#power and authority#power inequities#powerless
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knight/lord ships are like. what if i would die for you. what if i wanted you to live for me. what if i wanted to touch you but could only be satisfied with being near you. what if i could touch you but only through the safety of our gloves. what if i couldn’t stop thinking about you right next to me. what if i bloodied my hands for you and never looked back at the wreckage. what then
#DEVOTION!!!! YEARNING!!!!!!#KILLING YOUR ENEMIES IN THE NAME OF LOVE!!!!!#gasping when the two's hands meet because the IMPROPRIETY of it all#chit chattery#tropes#edit: for some reason some ppl seem to think this is only about men??#knight and lord are gender neutral terms and also dont necessarily need to actually be nobility it's about the vibes
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I understand the anger and frustration which leads women to declare that the only way to end our oppression is to rid the world of men. Even if you agree, I fail to see how we could ever achieve that, or be allowed to. But beyond that, I feel that one of the important things about feminism is the belief that the way in which we try to achieve our ends, influences the type of end we will achieve. Hence our insistence on non-heirarchical structures, our attempts to do away with power imbalances. Genocide is a form of male power-mongering I do not wish us to make use of. I want a non-sexist society, but not at the expense of turning women (who know so much about creating) into destructive "men".
If we envisage a future in which men will take part, men will have to change. Some women believe this will only happen if women withdraw their support totally from men. I don't believe all women are every likely to want to do this. Not all feminists want to do so, now. I'm not sure it would achieve the desired effect if we did. I think we will only achieve the sort of change we want very slowly, and not in any one way - it will be more like millions of little drops of all shapes and sizes gradually wearing away at the stone of the patriarchy.
Meanwhile, we need every ounce of woman energy we can muster. If the women's movement can't be a place for all women, whatever their sexuality. then we have little hope of ever achieving very much.
-Love Your Enemy? The Debate between Heterosexual Feminism and Political Lesbianism
#love your enemy#political lesbianism#heterosexual feminism#female oppression#patriarchy#female separatism
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When Jesus Said, "Be Perfect as Your Heavenly Father is Perfect", What Did He Mean?
Jesus talked about perfection in the context of love
“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, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing…
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An unbothered queen has entered, and subsequently left.
[First] Prev <–-> Next
#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#wen qing#wen ning#jiang cheng#wei wuxian#In the audio drama she quite literally opens the door and then leaves after seeing them without breaking conversation.#It is both so impressive and deeply funny to me.#I imagine her just literally pivoting in one foot and walking right out.#She came home after a long day at work and in 0.5 seconds went “I would rather go back to the office than deal with this right now”.#Besides tickling me to near tears - this scene is also a great introduction to Wen Qing - her first instinct is to protect!#She lives by the code of 'I don't care who you are - if you need help I will lend it.' a true doctor and professional.#Sure she is *mad* that Wen Ning puts himself (and her to a lesser extent) at risk by helping 'the enemy' but she gives in quick.#I love Wen Qing a lot - she is such an unsung hero in this story.#Sorry that her first appearance on this blog was...what it was. I'll let your curiosity take you down that path...
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2023 MARCH 04 Saturday
"You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?"
~ Matthew 5:43-44,46a
#bible#scripture#bible verse#gospel#Matthew#you#heard#said#love#neighbor#hate#enemy#love your enemy#pray#persecute#recompense#God#Lord#Jesus#Christ
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