Proverbs 16:7 If a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
This is a conditional promise: if you please the Lord, then your enemies will be at peace with you. For natural-born sinful, selfish humans it is, of course, impossible to please the Lord. However, The Father is well-pleased with His Son, as He announced: “This is my beloved Son, with him I am well pleased.” Jesus’ righteous life and innocent death pleases God. And when I believe in Jesus I am identified with Him, and my Father is well pleased with me. Wonder of wonders! It is amazing for me to remember that God is well pleased with me. Because of this Gospel truth, the promise comes true: God makes my enemies be at peace with me.
The “enemies” referred to here are not our spiritual enemies (Sin, Death, Satan), for they will never make peace and be reconciled. They are sworn, relentless, and eternal enemies of God and man. The only thing that can be done is to overcome them and eventually throw them into the life of fire. This has been done, and it will be done.
The enemies referred to here are flesh and blood human beings, who become temporary enemies for various sinful reasons. They may be tempted by our spiritual enemies to be at enmity with us from time to time. These “enemies” may be as close as our own family or as far as people we don’t even know, but anyone can become like an enemy for a time of disrupted relationships. St. Paul says in Ephesians: “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of evil.”
So what do we do with flesh and blood enemies? We make peace with them! Or rather, God makes them be at peace with us. That’s the promise. We apologize and we forgive. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The Lord helps us do this when we ask according to His promise. You know the old saying: “Get rid of your enemies by making them friends.”