Here is an old story. A man was resting in his house. A snail is walking on the ground near him. He took the snail outside and threw it away. Four years have passed. One night while he was sleeping he heard a knocking sound. The man got up and opened the door. He saw the snail with a dagger in its hand.
“Hasn’t you thrown me away four years ago? I’ve been coming to you for four years; to make a revenge! I’ll kill you.”
The snail continued its journey with the dagger again.
See, for four years the snail has been on a journey of revenge. It was travelling continuously. What useful things could the snail have done with that time? But the thought of revenge and the unforgiveness towards its enemy closed all the good prospects of that snail.
It is very easy for us to love our loved ones. But loving our enemies is certainly a challenge. Who should we love but our enemies? We love those who support us and speak well to us. But are we able to love those who harmed us, those who hurt us, those who spoke against us, those who destroyed our reputation, those who made us slanderous in society? We will never be able to. We are all just ordinary people. But we can make an effort. We must defeat the seven-letter word revenge with the eleven-letter word forgiveness.
Once a soldier was wounded in battle and was dying. Then a priest came to him and asked: “Do you want to forgive anyone? If you want to ask for forgiveness, I can call them here.” The soldier’s reply was: “Whom to forgive? I have already killed all my enemies.”
How can love those who kill all their enemies and take revenge?
When we start loving our enemies without taking revenge, we really start experiencing happiness and comfort in life. Otherwise, there will always be quarrels, enmity, anger, and strife in life. Why does being restless shorten the length of life? Why not extend life by laughing and having fun loving your enemy? Don’t crawl like the first mentioned snail and waste your life on revenge. So let life succeed; Mine and my enemy’s!