Matthew 5:43-47
"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Lately, we’ve had a lot of spotty rain showers. Just last week, my husband and I watched out our back windows as sheets of rain blew across the river valley below us – and barely a drop touched our yard for the longest time. How could the refreshing rain be so close… and yet so far away?
We have commented to each other that “Somebody who needs rain is getting it,” and we have been thankful for this. As our drought conditions continue, it would be easy to be resentful when our neighbors across town receive an inch of rain, and we get only a few drops. If that neighbor happened to be someone we really didn’t like, we could build up a pretty good head of steam over his/her soggy blessing. “That lousy fellow got water for his lawn, and we didn’t get any! How could God bless HIM?! What’s He doing letting THAT guy have rain and not us?!”
I hope you can see how ridiculous this is even as you read it. But if we are honest, we behave in exactly this manner about many things – and often! We cheer when our “enemy” is wounded in some way, and we gripe and complain if he/she gets a break. When we are wronged - or this happens to someone we care about - it rarely (if ever) occurs to us to pray for the offender… to ask God to soften his/her heart and to bring about a spirit of remorse and a desire for restitution. Instead, we rant and rave, wring our hands and cry… and we ask God “Why, LORD, WHY?” We treat these “enemies” with disdain – and sometimes disrespect.
What do you suppose would happen if we began to fervently and genuinely pray for our “enemies?” What if we prayed for the shooter who killed and injured more than 70 people recently in Colorado… or those who oppose the political candidates we support? Suppose we were to begin praying for those who mistreat and disrespect the people who do not share their views on everything from universal health care and gun control to abortion, gay rights and what constitutes a “traditional marriage?”
What if we prayed for those who protest at funerals and bomb abortion clinics? Have you ever considered what might happen if we prayed for the monsters that exploit little children, tyrants who are cruel and repressive toward the people under their control, and those who are so sick of mind as to torture innocent animals?
Closer to home, what if you prayed for that neighbor who drives you nuts, the kid in your class who is obnoxious, the teacher who intimidates students, the person who disagrees with your views on anything and everything, or the boss who is never satisfied with your work? What do you suppose would happen if you started to pray passionately for that church member who drives you up the wall or the crazy relative you wished belonged to another family?
I love how this passage explains that it’s easy to love those who agree with you and are so “lovable.” Loving the unlovely – or those who differ with us in some way – is much harder… but far more important! When we start to operate in love and concern for others… ALL others… we open the doors for God to step through and perform miracles. And notice I did NOT say to pray for these people to come around to our way of thinking! We are not asking God to necessarily change the other person… we are merely asking Him to work in this person’s life according to His will. This is very important!
When we take a step backward and look at even our worst “enemy” and say, “This is God’s child, too,” we begin to see this person in a different light. He/she may still be disagreeable, different, messed up, confused… or even evil. But God sees at least the potential for worth and significance – and HE has the final say. Our change in attitude may not have the effect that WE desire… but all concerned will be forever transformed as we place the judgment and outcome in God’s hands and operate totally in His love.
I suggest you start small. Pick out one person today that needs your love and prayers. Tomorrow, select another (you know there is more than one!), and pray for him/her. Notice how God works in and through you as you begin to release your negative feelings and allow Him to have complete control. Surrender to God’s will and operate in His love for ALL of His children. Make every effort to get to a place in your own faith walk where your joy comes from learning to truly celebrate when the other guy gets rain…and you don’t!
©2012 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label loving your enemies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label loving your enemies. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for July 22, 2012
Luke 6:26-30
"There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.
"To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
The glass-topped coffee table on our back porch holds a potted begonia, some wrought-iron candleholders, and a decorative bird house. This house is presently the home of a rather ugly-looking, spotted Great Plains Toad, who I have named Frodo. Most of the day, Frodo sits in the birdhouse, draping his head out of the hole. At night, he often attaches himself to one of our windows and feasts on bugs drawn to the lamplight there.
I’ve kinda grown attached to Frodo. He’s cute, in an ugly sort of way. But I did my homework… he is also poisonous! Behind his eyes are glands that secrete a protective (to him) milky solution that could be toxic to dogs or cats who might find him fun to pursue. This substance can even cause some serious harm to a human, if one were to handle the frog and not wash your hands thoroughly afterward. My research indicates that Frodo may have come to this abode because his regular haunt – warm, damp ground in which to burrow – is not available right now. Ditto for his traditional fare of grubs, which he digs from the moist earth! So I will be kind to Frodo and allow him to stay in the birdhouse. I will “live generously” where he is concerned. But I will also see him for the potential scoundrel that he is… I’m aware of his truth!
There is a lesson here for all of us in our daily living. There are “scoundrels” among us… people who are a bit of a chameleon at best… changing with the wind or whatever best suits their desires at the moment. And while I don’t like to think I have any actual “enemies,” I know that there are people who only want what they feel I can give them… those who are nice enough to me when necessary but don’t actually give a hoot about my feelings or wellbeing. I recognize these people (most of the time)… and I hope I treat them generously in spite of their behavior - because God calls me to do so. I urge you to do the same.
I also ask that we would never be the scoundrel… that we would not treat others in a dishonest or disrespectful way or use them to get ahead or for our own benefit. I pray that we would operate in honesty and truth… love and genuine big-heartedness. God is calling us to be the real deal… to be sincere and authentic with others… but also to be charitable – even when we are being treated anything but kindly. It’s a tall order… but as we have discussed many times, we Christians were never promised “easy!”
I’m going to continue to allow Frodo to inhabit our birdhouse… but I won’t be doing anything to antagonize him! As for the “scoundrels” I encounter in life, I pray that I will have the wisdom to recognize them, the strength and courage to handle whatever they deliver, and the ability to treat them generously. In doing this, I hope that God will allow my best to shine through for Him. What about you?
©2012 Debbie Robus
"There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.
"To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
The glass-topped coffee table on our back porch holds a potted begonia, some wrought-iron candleholders, and a decorative bird house. This house is presently the home of a rather ugly-looking, spotted Great Plains Toad, who I have named Frodo. Most of the day, Frodo sits in the birdhouse, draping his head out of the hole. At night, he often attaches himself to one of our windows and feasts on bugs drawn to the lamplight there.
I’ve kinda grown attached to Frodo. He’s cute, in an ugly sort of way. But I did my homework… he is also poisonous! Behind his eyes are glands that secrete a protective (to him) milky solution that could be toxic to dogs or cats who might find him fun to pursue. This substance can even cause some serious harm to a human, if one were to handle the frog and not wash your hands thoroughly afterward. My research indicates that Frodo may have come to this abode because his regular haunt – warm, damp ground in which to burrow – is not available right now. Ditto for his traditional fare of grubs, which he digs from the moist earth! So I will be kind to Frodo and allow him to stay in the birdhouse. I will “live generously” where he is concerned. But I will also see him for the potential scoundrel that he is… I’m aware of his truth!
There is a lesson here for all of us in our daily living. There are “scoundrels” among us… people who are a bit of a chameleon at best… changing with the wind or whatever best suits their desires at the moment. And while I don’t like to think I have any actual “enemies,” I know that there are people who only want what they feel I can give them… those who are nice enough to me when necessary but don’t actually give a hoot about my feelings or wellbeing. I recognize these people (most of the time)… and I hope I treat them generously in spite of their behavior - because God calls me to do so. I urge you to do the same.
I also ask that we would never be the scoundrel… that we would not treat others in a dishonest or disrespectful way or use them to get ahead or for our own benefit. I pray that we would operate in honesty and truth… love and genuine big-heartedness. God is calling us to be the real deal… to be sincere and authentic with others… but also to be charitable – even when we are being treated anything but kindly. It’s a tall order… but as we have discussed many times, we Christians were never promised “easy!”
I’m going to continue to allow Frodo to inhabit our birdhouse… but I won’t be doing anything to antagonize him! As for the “scoundrels” I encounter in life, I pray that I will have the wisdom to recognize them, the strength and courage to handle whatever they deliver, and the ability to treat them generously. In doing this, I hope that God will allow my best to shine through for Him. What about you?
©2012 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for November 11, 2011
Psalm 133
How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! It's like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, Flowing down Aaron's beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes. It's like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that's where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Today is Veteran’s Day in the USA… Remembrance Day in Canada. This is a day when we salute all veterans for their service to our country. It is a noble and honorable holiday… a time to say “Thank You” to those who have served around the globe to protect us and the freedoms we enjoy.
We cannot ignore the fact that military troops are needed because “brothers and sisters” cannot get along. This is nothing new… remember Cain and Abel? Still, God desires peace among His children. He commands us to love one another and live in harmony. So we keep trying… and let’s be honest, it all begins at home.
How are you getting along with your “brothers and sisters” these days… those related to you by blood and those you interact with every day as a child of God? Are you prayerfully doing all you can to live in peace and harmony with others… to love even those who think differently or are “hard to love?” God will reward your efforts, even when others do not reciprocate. If you are obedient to His command to love others as you love yourself, He will pour out an anointing of blessings on your life. Will this be easy? Not always. Will it be worth the effort? Absolutely!
As we pause today to honor our veterans, let’s remember to thank God for loving us even when we are unlovely toward others. Let’s ask Him to guide our thoughts and actions… to make us more tolerant of others… and to anoint our efforts with His blessings. Thank God for promising us eternal life, where harmony will reign supreme… and ask Him to guard our thoughts and actions in the meantime.
©2011 Debbie Robus
How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! It's like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, Flowing down Aaron's beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes. It's like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that's where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Today is Veteran’s Day in the USA… Remembrance Day in Canada. This is a day when we salute all veterans for their service to our country. It is a noble and honorable holiday… a time to say “Thank You” to those who have served around the globe to protect us and the freedoms we enjoy.
We cannot ignore the fact that military troops are needed because “brothers and sisters” cannot get along. This is nothing new… remember Cain and Abel? Still, God desires peace among His children. He commands us to love one another and live in harmony. So we keep trying… and let’s be honest, it all begins at home.
How are you getting along with your “brothers and sisters” these days… those related to you by blood and those you interact with every day as a child of God? Are you prayerfully doing all you can to live in peace and harmony with others… to love even those who think differently or are “hard to love?” God will reward your efforts, even when others do not reciprocate. If you are obedient to His command to love others as you love yourself, He will pour out an anointing of blessings on your life. Will this be easy? Not always. Will it be worth the effort? Absolutely!
As we pause today to honor our veterans, let’s remember to thank God for loving us even when we are unlovely toward others. Let’s ask Him to guide our thoughts and actions… to make us more tolerant of others… and to anoint our efforts with His blessings. Thank God for promising us eternal life, where harmony will reign supreme… and ask Him to guard our thoughts and actions in the meantime.
©2011 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for September 4, 2011
Psalm 109:1-20
I praise you, God! Don't keep silent. Destructive and deceitful lies are told about me, and hateful things are said for no reason. I had pity and prayed [a] for my enemies, but their words to me were harsh and cruel. For being friendly and kind, they paid me back with meanness and hatred.
My enemies said, "Find some worthless fools to accuse him of a crime. Try him and find him guilty! Consider his prayers a lie. Cut his life short and let someone else have his job. Make orphans of his children and a widow of his wife; make his children beg for food and live in the slums. "Let the people he owes take everything he owns. Give it all to strangers. Don't let anyone be kind to him or have pity on the children he leaves behind. Bring an end to his family, and from now on let him be a forgotten man.
"Don't let the LORD forgive the sins of his parents and his ancestors. Don't let the LORD forget the sins of his family, or let anyone remember his family ever lived. He was so cruel to the poor, homeless, and discouraged that they died young. "He cursed others. Now place a curse on him! He never wished others well. Wish only trouble for him! He cursed others more often than he dressed himself.
Let his curses strike him deep, just as water and olive oil soak through to our bones. Let his curses surround him, just like the clothes he wears each day." Those are the cruel things my enemies wish for me. Let it all happen to them!
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
If you want to truly find out what your Christian faith is made of, pray for your enemy. Pray for your opponent, the other candidates, the bully, the overbearing boss, the abusive spouse, the church members who don’t seem to care, and the wayward child. Pray for those we fight against in faraway countries… and the next-door neighbor with home you have an ongoing spat.
In this passage, David is telling God all of the mean things that have been done to him… and yes, they are all pretty rotten. And I’m betting some mean, rotten things have been said and done to each of us over time. But in the end, David asks God to give it all back to his enemies… “Let it all happen to them!”
My question to you is this… “How does this make David any better than those who are mistreating him?” The answer is that it doesn’t. God will mete out consequences and punishment to those who disobey and mistreat others… in His own way. He doesn’t need us to tell Him what to do. At the same time, I don’t want us to be afraid to bare our souls to God and tell Him how we really feel. First of all, He knows already… and secondly, this may have been what David was doing – venting, without really expecting God to be so cruel to the enemies. God wants us to be honest with Him about how we feel… to give Him a chance to show us His power and love – and to possibly temper our feelings and show us a better way. Then we must trust Him to decide how to handle things.
At the end of the day, we are all God’s children… even those who seem evil and cruel and deal us grief on a continual basis. We must learn to love even those who are so hard to love… to pour our hearts out to God and give Him our concerns and our pain… and allow Him to have final judgment.
Lastly, we must not take consolation when others suffer. Reveling in the feeling that someone got what they deserved is not Christ-like thinking. We must not take joy in someone else’s misfortune, no matter how awful that person may have been to us and/or others. If we are to truly mature into strong, effective, faithful servants of Jesus Christ, we must become more like Him in every way. Look at how He forgave on the cross. Are we ready – and able – to do the same in our everyday lives? Shouldn’t we be?
Give God your troubles… tell Him how you really feel. Then trust Him to handle the outcome perfectly, according to His will. Pray for your enemies, and let God have the last word. He will see that perfect justice is done.
©2011 Debbie Robus
I praise you, God! Don't keep silent. Destructive and deceitful lies are told about me, and hateful things are said for no reason. I had pity and prayed [a] for my enemies, but their words to me were harsh and cruel. For being friendly and kind, they paid me back with meanness and hatred.
My enemies said, "Find some worthless fools to accuse him of a crime. Try him and find him guilty! Consider his prayers a lie. Cut his life short and let someone else have his job. Make orphans of his children and a widow of his wife; make his children beg for food and live in the slums. "Let the people he owes take everything he owns. Give it all to strangers. Don't let anyone be kind to him or have pity on the children he leaves behind. Bring an end to his family, and from now on let him be a forgotten man.
"Don't let the LORD forgive the sins of his parents and his ancestors. Don't let the LORD forget the sins of his family, or let anyone remember his family ever lived. He was so cruel to the poor, homeless, and discouraged that they died young. "He cursed others. Now place a curse on him! He never wished others well. Wish only trouble for him! He cursed others more often than he dressed himself.
Let his curses strike him deep, just as water and olive oil soak through to our bones. Let his curses surround him, just like the clothes he wears each day." Those are the cruel things my enemies wish for me. Let it all happen to them!
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
If you want to truly find out what your Christian faith is made of, pray for your enemy. Pray for your opponent, the other candidates, the bully, the overbearing boss, the abusive spouse, the church members who don’t seem to care, and the wayward child. Pray for those we fight against in faraway countries… and the next-door neighbor with home you have an ongoing spat.
In this passage, David is telling God all of the mean things that have been done to him… and yes, they are all pretty rotten. And I’m betting some mean, rotten things have been said and done to each of us over time. But in the end, David asks God to give it all back to his enemies… “Let it all happen to them!”
My question to you is this… “How does this make David any better than those who are mistreating him?” The answer is that it doesn’t. God will mete out consequences and punishment to those who disobey and mistreat others… in His own way. He doesn’t need us to tell Him what to do. At the same time, I don’t want us to be afraid to bare our souls to God and tell Him how we really feel. First of all, He knows already… and secondly, this may have been what David was doing – venting, without really expecting God to be so cruel to the enemies. God wants us to be honest with Him about how we feel… to give Him a chance to show us His power and love – and to possibly temper our feelings and show us a better way. Then we must trust Him to decide how to handle things.
At the end of the day, we are all God’s children… even those who seem evil and cruel and deal us grief on a continual basis. We must learn to love even those who are so hard to love… to pour our hearts out to God and give Him our concerns and our pain… and allow Him to have final judgment.
Lastly, we must not take consolation when others suffer. Reveling in the feeling that someone got what they deserved is not Christ-like thinking. We must not take joy in someone else’s misfortune, no matter how awful that person may have been to us and/or others. If we are to truly mature into strong, effective, faithful servants of Jesus Christ, we must become more like Him in every way. Look at how He forgave on the cross. Are we ready – and able – to do the same in our everyday lives? Shouldn’t we be?
Give God your troubles… tell Him how you really feel. Then trust Him to handle the outcome perfectly, according to His will. Pray for your enemies, and let God have the last word. He will see that perfect justice is done.
©2011 Debbie Robus
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