Let's say you have been robbed for example, I know the verses in the Bible with respect to "Love your enemies, and do good to those who persecute you,"--however, I'm having a hard time relating my situation to that :/. This person who burglarized me for $900 cash as well as about $500 worth of other stuff from my home, I'm in contact with almost everyday--and I want to bust him up...

Does this sound like God's will--I have reason to believe it is to humiliate me as a sort of judgement, however I'm uncertain :/, how would you love someone in this scenario?

"I'm in contact with almost everyday"

Wait, so you know this person?

I believe the problem here is that, as it appears to be in my perspective, love is all too often thought to be the feeling you get when you're with someone special to you like a friend or family member. To love our enemies should be to avoid hating them for any reason. Now this does not mean we cannot be angry about anything, but we must not let it become hatred.

John 2:13-17 13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” New International Version (NIV)

If you read the preceding verses carefully, you will notice that Jesus was angered, but he did not let this boil into hatred. If he did, he would have done more than simply drive the money changers out of the temple.

Also, God never wants to humiliate us. God will challenge us in our lives, but His plans are never to harm us. True, it does feel that way at times, I've had reasons to believe it myself, but God always has the best for us in the end.

The best way to show love for this person who wronged you, would be to pray for him. I honestly do not know how I would be able to be around this person if I had to be near him on a daily basis. If it feels like it is too much for you to handle being near him, find a way to distance yourself. I have had to do that after bad relations with some people. God bless --because He will!

Loving your enemy doesn't have to involved allowing him to walk all over you illegally. If you know (and can prove) that this person stole from you then I think you have every right to use the law in your favor to either get back what was taken or to see this person punished. You can't see the future.... maybe getting caught and doing some time might actually end up being the best thing for this person.

However, the higher road would be to totally forgive this person and move on.

In my opinion, I think you should forgive him for what he's done. But at the same time, persecute him. I mean, if you can prove he stole all that stuff, then he should be punished somehow.

Forgiveness and prayer are key, but at the same time, justice is still owed. Theft is a sin, breaking one of the ten commandments, and while it can still be forgiven, still deserves punishment.

play4fun : Yeah--he's a relative of my friend's.

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Thanks to everyone for the replies...they HAVE helped me to sort it out, because of my difficulty right now in trying to keep a level-mind. I suppose I'll weigh my options for a bit longer, but ultimately, forgiving him and moving on stands out as the most likely alternative...I have been in contact with the police but the seem to not care :/.

double post, sorry.

Yeah, I just don't see how someone can practice forgiveness on this type of thing.

This may be a bit offtopic but let's say this dude killed your mom, your dog, and then took a dump on your couch.

Are you gonna ever forgive him for that?

It may be going a bit over the top, but I'm trying to prove a minor point I guess.

When someone does something unforgivable, I don't forgive them.

Of course, I have the added "benefit" in choosing not to live my life by the book or anything.

Well we are to forgive him, but it also does not mean to let him do wrong like that. I don't know what the situation is, but loving our enemies does not mean that we let wrongdoing go. We are to stand up and confront the situation and do what you can to prevent this from happening again.

Warning though, because we should not go too far as to lay the law on our own hands. We are not to put vengeance on other people. So forgive them, but also confront them of their wrongdoing.

It seems like if I was in that situation I would beee pisssedddd and upset but I still wouldn't hate that person. I believe I would just forgive and think well he will be judged in the end like all of us. I really don't know what too tell you though cause I never have been in a situation like that.

Bintsy : This situation still haunts me to this day; but I've filed the necessary police reports and followed up with them and they swept me under the rug so I've moved on. It's still aggravating but there's nothing I can do. Like you said though, all will be revealed in the end.

I'm very sorry that He did that to you. It's so sad what people do these days. And I'm only 15 and I see all the reality and truth and how ugly people are getting. Don't let something like this haunt you forever, it's not worth your time. Just leave it all in gods hands.

I am a forgiving person, but when I'm been robbed for petty things a drugs and out of jealousy of I have better things they have. I have a hard time forgiving them, but I wind up forgiving anyways because I know that person will get caught and brought to justice and hopefully that person would have learned his/hers lesson.

tRIUNE : You don't have to persecute them.... prosecution in the courts is more than acceptable.

so is this guy your friend stil after this whole mess? no matter what friend of mine robebd me i would still bust his ass as soon as AND go ape s*** on him everytime i saw him especially if he didnt get busted, im not a bad person for wanting to do that surely?

POKeMAD : To an extent I've forgiven him... can't conclude that I've fully forgiven him, so heck no, he's not a friend of mine. Basically I've left the situation in God's hands instead of dealing with it myself, so the purpose of this thread was really just to try and alleviate my stress of the situation.

But like I said I've moved on, so looking back at this ordeal now, I think it may have actually been orchestrated by God to get my attention that maybe I wasn't focusing on what God wants me to do with my income - instead of what I want; don't get me wrong though, the dude stole my money to support his drug habit so that's definitely not the purpose of God. I'm sure justice will be served - the Bible says "You reap what you sow".

God says not to hate enemies. As hard as this may be you only need to forgive the person who did it if you know this person invite him to church try to change him so he wont do again to anyone else. You don't have to be their friend but you shouldn't hate them meaning you are to able to tolerate being around them and hold no hate in your heart. The things he stole will have no meaning for you in heaven.

sirxslayer : This makes sense; but it's not going to happen with this guy. He's been stealing all of his life, and now at age 42, he's been a drug addict for 20 years... I don't hate him. The situation is confusing, but I think it has taught me to trust even more in what God wants for me.

Well don't hold it against him, he will get punished one day. He will be judged like all of us one day and you just need to forget about it. I hope you've fully forgiven him.