Destroy Your Enemies

The title of this post is obviously a bit misleading from what most people would think "destroying your enemies" would mean, but when I hear the phrase I like to think of the Abraham Lincoln quote:

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"

The quickest way to like somebody is to get to know them. Everybody has positive things about them, and everybody has something to offer. If we focused on the positive instead of the negative of people, then we would have no enemies. If you don't like somebody, get to know them better.

Often we make a hasty judgment about a person, and then it can be difficult to change our first opinion of them. At least this is the case for me. Sometimes it seems like within 30 seconds of meeting somebody (sometimes even before I even hear them speak!) I have made a judgment about a person, and it may be tough for them to change my opinion of them. This is not their fault, it is mine. This is not a shortcoming of theirs, it is a shortcoming for me.

I am reminded of a story I read about Mother Teresa. In her personal writings, she talked about a fellow sister with whom she didn't personally like all that much, and with whom she did not feel much of a connection. However, when asked about their relationship, that sister said that they were very good friends. Such was the depth of Mother Teresa's love for those around us.

Even if we do not have any "enemies," everybody has those people in their lives with whom they don't really get along with well, who they don't like all that much, and whose personalities do not click well. Now, with how many of them would the other person think you are close friends? For me, the answer is zero.

Destroying your enemies and making them friends does not mean everyone that you "hate"... it means all of those people in our life who we have a hard time making a connection with or loving. Those are the people we should strive the most to love.