Right, we smack upside the head with love.
When a brother embarrass us, or hurt us in that place we are most vulnerable, it can feel like climbing a mountain to even tell them we forgive them, let alone to forgive them “from the heart” like God's word tells us to do.
It is not an enemy who taunts me —
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me —
then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend. Psalm 55:12–13
When I started really seeking to understand what Jesus meant when HE said to "Live By", Every Word of God, I have come to the understanding that He means to apply His Words to our own self, our own thoughts and mind, which is what our works and judgments are founded on. I quickly learned when engaging in this practice, that the enemy is not from without at all, but from within. The companion David speaks to in this Psalms, the voice we trusted, was a voice that exists within us, in my view. We can see this voice speaking from inside Eve, a perfect human with free will.. Telling someone what you believe can often be very offensive to them if they don't share the same belief. And when a person who is offended replies, their reply often offends us as well. and stirs an emotion that makes us want to smack them upside the head, after they expressed the exact same urge when you shared with them something that didn't sit well with them. So who is the enemy here, who is it that has the power to defile us? The thoughts and urges of others, or the thoughts and urges from within us? What a wonderful, though perhaps uncomfortable topic for discussion.
Imagine if the Words of the Bible are true, and the Kingdom of God dwells within us, and the Temple of God is in our mind. And the people of the kingdom are thoughts and we are instructed by the God and Father of ALL to discern the thoughts inside of us, whether they are wrought in God or not, and to fight against the Un-Godly thoughts, "
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Our Mind, where the Temple of God resides)
For the wicked un-Godly thoughts, we are to utterly destroy them, their wives and children, their goats and cattle, every part, piece and remnant of this thought shall be utterly discerned and destroyed with the Sword of the Lord, and His Armor.
But to be honest, I have found some of my most precious possessions are sometimes pride and resentment and vengeance towards voices that are outside. Words that offended me so I offended back which is the result of refusing to discern a thought, feeding the thought, then acting on the thought.
James 1:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
It seems the endeavor to remove the beam from my own eye is taking longer than anticipated, and this by design I have come to understand. God gave me One Kingdom to rule over, and it's a full time endeavor.
What a great topic for discussion.