When Jesus said to love our enemies, I sometimes wonder if part of the statement is about ourselves and our sinfulness. Otherwise we despise that which can change us. I am not saying that we should love sin. Rather, what I am talking about is loving ourselves enough to recognize that sin, when inventoried, and if we are open enough to recognize it, can change us and move us to perfected love. Of course, we should not sin, but sometimes we yield to it and we should not be so closed to the idea that we have to embrace the idea that we sometimes have little power over it. But, by recognizing the affects it has on others is to become a more perfect lover. In other words, sin becomes something of an ally to change. To love our enemies in the normative sense is to recognize that even though there is evil and sinfulness in the person's action, it does not make the person sinful and evil. It only makes them, and us, persons who act out, or live out, that which is controlling us and is opposed to God's will for our lives. The person is not sinful or evil, their actions are. It is from that understanding of sin that it becomes more readily acceptable to embrace the sinner and despise the power that brings about that sin. That holds true for ourselves. If we can't love ourselves it means that we have accepted defeat of the evil one and rejected God, the one who can protect us and free us from the evil one. Embrace sin in the sense that it can be used for Good. Then allow God to change us so that in His time, we are perfected.
