“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
~Matthew 5:44
Do you have a person in your life who is hard to love? It could be that boy or that girl at school who is constantly making fun of people or being rude and disruptive. Life would be so easy if everyone could be good friends, right? It’s easy to love someone who sees things like us, play like us and enjoy the same kind of music, books and so on…
Jesus was sent to earth to save everyone. But not everyone liked him. The Bible says that the “crowd” shouted: “crucify him”. Imagine being hated by a crowd. Some even spit on him. But Jesus didn’t spit back. He didn’t even ask God to destroy all these people. What he did is beyond our human understanding. He prayed for them. He said: “forgive them Father, for they don’t know what they are doing”. He was able to see beyond their rage. He saw fallen soul in need of salvation.
God wants us to care for the people around us, even if it means that sometimes their reaction toward our faith is not as good as we expected. Our good attitude and our prayer toward them will unleash the power of the Holy Spirit within us and bring restoration in God’s timing. It doesn’t mean that we should let them hurt us. We can express our emotions and thoughts but we should not act in the same evil way.
We should persevere in prayer for every challenging situation and for every person that persecute us or bring so much trouble in our life. Galatians 6:9 encourage us when it says “ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if you do not give up”.
Don’t give up! Love your enemies through prayer and forgiveness. Guard your heart for any kind of bitterness. You are more valuable than their words and pressure. God’s love for you is enough. You don’t need to prove your value to anyone, but you can share the grace of God to them by keeping a godly attitude in all situation.
The Bible says, “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts”. Zechariah 4:6. Continue to walk by the Spirit. It will give you the strength you need to love your enemies and pray for them. The battle belongs to God. He is the Lord of hosts.
Prayer:
Jesus, you know me like nobody else. You know how hard it is sometimes to love people. But thank you for reminding me that there is power in prayer and that I am not alone. You are with me and you are able to help me overcome every challenging situation. I praise your Holy Name.