Love Your Enemies

This guitar has a history. It has been with me for about thirty years now. I received this guitar from my husband, Bruce, as a gift. I spent many years enjoying the music that came from this instrument by the work of my hands. Some years later my daughter, Emily, learned to play the guitar and found her soul through singing and songwriting. Her spirit comes through her music and when I listen to her sing I am deeply moved. After all she is my daughter. Choosing the life of a musician takes much courage in todays world.  I admire Emily for living from her true self. For many years she could not afford to buy a guitar of her own so she played mine. It was not her guitar of choice but she brought forth beautiful music from it and I delighted in sharing it with her. This is the guitar that she used to create her first CD.

A few weeks ago when thieves came into our home, this guitar was one of the things they snatched. It was sitting out in plain sight in my bedroom. I have often thought about passing this guitar along to one of my grandchildren or selling it because I do not play it anymore. So when it was taken I figured that that was that. I never expected to see it again. Then a few days after the robbery, the police called us and asked us what kind of guitar we had stolen and if we had a picture of it. Because we had pictures from Emily's CD we were able to recover the guitar plus many of the other items that were taken from us. When I saw the guitar it had some damage to the face. The people that took it did not bother to care for its condition. The police tracked down the thieves and informed us that they were heroin addicts. So my guitar was an opportunity for their next fix. The sad part of this is that this guitar does not have much monetary value anymore. I doubt that they would have received much money for it had they been able to pawn it off. So now it is hanging back up in my bedroom after its adventure into the drug world and after taking a beating. 

This experience got me to thinking about the words of Jesus:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  Do to others as you would have them do to you."

We live in a very broken world. The people that broke into our home are living desperate lives. Their lives are more valuable than anything the stole. Are they my enemy? Yes, I suppose they are. They threatened my world. In their desperation, they brought harm to me and my family. They mistreated us and took what belonged to us. I am thankful that no one in my family encountered the robbers while they were in our home. My son-in-law was out working in the shop that is located on our property that day. He could have very easily walked in on them. Surprisingly, my response when I heard that we had been robbed was sadness. When we went to the police station to retrieve some of our possessions, I again felt a deep sadness. In the foyer of the police station there is a glass case filled with pictures and

Brad Crawford

memorabilia of my brother-in-law. Ten years ago, he was killed in the line of duty. I have seen the memorial before but not for many years now. I do not have much reason to visit the police station. We lost Brad because he encountered desperate people. Are they my enemy? I suppose they are. They took a good man's life and robbed our family. The pain of losing Brad will never go away. 

So how do we love our enemies? By treating them the exact opposite of the way they have treated us. We choose the way of love. We do good rather than evil. We bless rather than curse. We give rather than take. Choosing to treat our enemies in this way is what will change the world. This is the way of Jesus.