Forgive and love your enemies

There are several interesting stories associated with Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of ‘The Last Supper’, here is one of them:

Around the time Leonardo started to paint this painting he had an enemy who also painted. He despised him after having had a bitter argument with him. When he got to paint the face of Judas Iscariot, he used his enemy’s face as a model so that he would always represent the person who betrayed Jesus.  He took great delight and comfort knowing that others would notice the face of his enemy on Judas.

As he worked on the faces of the other disciples, Da Vinci had trouble painting the face of Jesus. He often tried but couldn’t make any progress.  He felt frustrated and confused until he realised what was wrong.  His hatred for the other painter was preventing him from painting Jesus’ face.   Only after making peace with his enemy and repainting the face of Judas was he able to paint the face of Jesus and complete his masterpiece.

Maybe when we find it hard to accept forgiveness from God it is because we find it really hard to forgive others.  Jesus said (Matthew 6:14,15), “If you forgive men when they sin against you, Your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.”  In order for us to have a good relationship with God, we need to not only forgive our enemies but also demonstrate this by showing them God’s love.