DEALING WITH OUR ENEMIES - African proverbs 02.05.18
Source: Art by @satishart
Don't dig too deep a ditch for your enemies; you may well find yourself falling into it.~Yoruba proverb(Nigeria)
There is this thing I notice among some Nigerian church circles. I call it the 'my enemy syndrome'. Some talk so much about our 'unkown' enemies that people have become overly paranoid about each other. It's hard to see people of the same faith eat together anymore. It makes me sick. I may have people who dislike me, but should I really care? Must every one really like me? I choose to be happy and look at the positive side of life. I count my blessings daily, so if you wish to be my enemy, it's your choice.
This proverb took my mind back to what a friend carelessly said. He said, "if we all pray for our enemies to die and our unnamed enemies prayed for their enemies to die, then God might as well go ahead and kill every one, coz if your true to yourself then you will agree that we all have messed up some one at one time in our lives". Truely, we may have hurt someone in the past who instead of forgiving you decided to take you as the 'enemy'.
As a christian, I feel the Bible gives a better way of approach to this matter. It says we pray for our enemies. It might sound lame, but it's the most healthy way I know and have proven.
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
MatthewMatthew 5:44 NKJVhttpshttps://bible.com/bible/114/mat.5.44.NKJV
In planning harm for others we may actually be only hurting ourselves. When we forgive, we do ourselves a favour and not the person forgiven. We ease stress and focus on the more important things of life when we do this.
As conclusion, when I pray for my enemies to die, I need remember that the enemy might actually be the man in the mirror.
Proverbs have inspired me for a long time. There is so much wisdom in them. My father always told me a few every now and then. Hope to share this wisdom daily with you.
Being an art lover, I'll also be featuring art from @artzone, just as my little way of promoting art here on steemit.
Dear Artzonian, thanks for using the #ArtzOne hashtag. Your work is valuable to the @ArtzOne community. Quote of the week: Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics. -Victor Pinchuk
Hello! I find your post valuable for the wafrica community! Thanks for the great post! @wafrica is now following you! ALWAYs follow @wafrica and use the wafrica tag!