Loving those who hate you

As I grapple with this present time in my life, I am faced with certain challenges that are calling me into greater depths in my walk with Jesus. I believe that we all come to this point where it becomes apparent that the demands of living a godly life require us to do difficult things such as loving our enemies. Jesus tells us in Mathew 5:44 to love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and bless those who spitefully use you.

So, how do you respond to a person that is hurting us in one way or another? A boss at work, an unkind person, an unloving spouse and the list goes. What do you do when their actions towards you are a direct and intentional act to hurt you? I don’t know about you, but my natural and instant reaction is to fight back, and I have been doing so. Yet, there is an unrest in my spirit condemning my actions.

As I examine my actions, I realise that the same feeling motivating this person to hate me is the same feeling that I am allowing within myself when I choose to be my avenger. Even though I convince myself that I am justified in my actions, and they are unjustified in theirs, that does not remove my wrongdoings. But also, upon more scrutiny, I realise that the only difference between me and this person is the fact that I say by word of mouth that I am a Christian, but in fact, my actions are in no way different to theirs.  Paul warns us in Ephesians 4:26 Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger.

It appears that the question is not whether the motivation for your anger and actions is justified. What’s important is that we must not allow anger to motivate us into sinning but also, release the anger by forgiving those who hurt us for their actions.

My encouragement to you is that although this can be difficult to walk out, bring the situation to the Lord in prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to help you and empower you to love your enemies and for the Lord to give you the strength and wisdom you need.