Hieromonk Savatie Baştovoi
What do you feel when you hear someone from your enemies or from the people you don`t like suffered something bad, got sick, became bankrupt or fell in a shameful deed? If you are glad for it you are far away from the commandment of loving your enemies.
Loving our enemies begins from not being glad of their falls, although this sinful joy hides in any envious soul so that he is not glad only for the fall of his recognized enemy but also for the fall of any virtuous man as if it had been an accomplishment of his.
Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye. (Ps. 34, 19).
How glad we are and how we wink our eyes to our gossiping friends when our malicious judgments come true or we have this impression. Prophet David speaks about this kind of winking saying that such people hate unjustly.
Christ when He says `love your enemies` (Luke 6, 35), refers as well at the imaginary enemies the spirit of envy inspires to our mind and heart but if we try to look at them with the spirit of love they won`t appear as enemies to us anymore.
If we can`t love those who persecute us, beat us and rob us, we should at least be careful not to be glad of the falls of the servants of God who did not do us any harm at all. (Romans 14, 4).
