Take Jesus’ advice

The youth of today has a certain addiction to violence. It is everywhere. Whether we are watching tv, watching movies or even playing our computer games. There is a satisfaction that we find in seeing the blood and violence. It may be wrong and twisted but then that is the way most of us teens are. We have that animalistic instinct in us that we try and express with violence. And since we reap what we sow, the brutality we see is applied to the things we do in our daily lives. We get the impression that at times the only way to solve a problem is through aggression. A little argument with someone can escalate into a fight. In my opinion this is way out of line.  I believe that everything can be fixed with talking calmly and being level headed with the situation at hand. But this is also hard for young men because of our upbringing and hormones. We always want to prove that we are stronger than our adversary and that we are the alpha male.  What makes this wrong is that after fighting, what have we achieved? Sure we feel the satisfaction that we won; But what now? In the end we just hurt someone and we lost a friend.

In the Bible, there is a passage that clearly talks about how we should treat our enemies and those who hate us.

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 (Matthew 5:43-44)

Quite deep huh? Well this is exactly what I’m trying to point out. Violence solves nothing but what does help us create that positive change is Love. I know it is really hard to just up and stop hating someone who has done us wrong but we should know in our hearts that it is the right thing to do.

While I was researching about this particular topic, I came across this article written in a website called ZenHabits.net. Here they expounded the idea of making your Enemies your Friends. They also gave pointers and steps on how to turn them around and how to do your part in changing for the better. Here they are:

10 Tips For Loving Your Enemy

1. Stop, breathe, detach yourself.
2. Put yourself in their shoes.
3. Seek to understand.
4. Seek to accept.
5. Forgive, and let the past go.
6. Find something to love.
7. See them as yourself, or a loved one.
8. Find common ground.
9. Open your heart.
10. Reach out to them.

Sources:

http://zenhabits.net/10-tips-for-lifes-greatest-challenge-love-thy-enemy/

http://www.dougbrittonbooks.com/onlinebiblestudies-irritationandangermanagement/loveyourenemy-lovingallyourenemies.php

http://kalani1980.deviantart.com/art/Peace-33165568?q=boost%3Apopular+peace&qo=0