I have to love them?

Last night's lesson was on connecting to friends and foes. I'm all about friends, I love talking about loyalty, being there for someone, and having like-minded believers as my closest friends. What is not so fun to talk about are enemies. I mean, some enemies are just people who aren't that fun to be around, whereas there is this one person that I have such a hard time forgiving, and I think it's harder because I know that this person is supposed to be a born again believer. The person actually is in a great spiritual position, but has used it as a means to try to control and manipulate people.I actually wrote a post a while back on forgiveness, where I felt like I was getting to where I had forgiven that person (http://ayouthpastorswife.blogspot.com/2013/07/forgiveness.html). Fast-forward to a month ago, and I was told of something that made all those feelings and anger surged within me.  Now, especially after this lesson, I feel like I am back to square one with forgiveness.

Loving our Enemies

My husband used 2 verses to describe how we are to treat our enemies, and one really stood out, John 13:34-35:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Ouch! We are to love each other (enemies included) with the same undying, sacrificial love that Jesus loved us! By this, not by how we evangelize, or by how many times we go to church, (even though these are amazing things!) will people know that we are Jesus' disciples. Love will be the testimony that others see. I know that I need some work in this area, but how can we make this practical?

How to Love our Enemies

Luke 6: 27-31

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them."

These verses offer some practical help when it comes to showing love to your enemies, however, this does not make it any easier! To show love, we are to first pray for them. Actually this is the easiest of all to do, because it doesn't consist of having contact with that person. However, if you have not begun to love that person as a fellow believer in Christ, or if unsaved as a person in need of Jesus, then you may find it to be a bit difficult to pray blessings on that person, and that God would work in their lives.
The next practical thing is a more difficult thing to do, if that person does something to you then don't reciprocate it.To not shout back hurtful words, or want to get even can go a long ways in your enemies eyes. (Prov. 15:1). The next thing the Bible says is that we are to give, even when they have taken things from us. Perhaps the person you despise most is having financial difficulty now, or needs help in some form or fashion. Helping that person, and giving to them despite what they've done, may just be the thing that brings them to Christ, or back in a close relationship with Him. Even if it's not, and this is the hard part, we must do it anyway because it is right. Christ didn't just die for the people who would accept him, he died and loved everyone. If we are to love with the love of Christ, we can't withhold doing good because we dislike a person.

I have written this post not just for helping you, my reader, but to help me be more accountable. If I write this, and believe it, then I need to live it. If I want a closer relationship with Christ, then I need to be willing to love not just the people that love me but the ones who aren't quite so easy to love. 

Big News!

You might have thought that I had forgotten my blog, but the truth is, a lot has happened in the past couple of months. The biggest thing to happen, we learned about 2 days before Christmas, my husband and I are going to have a baby! We are excited to start this parenting journey, although I will admit I am pretty scared as well. I didn't post at first because I felt pretty sick early on, but now that I am headed into my second trimester, I am getting some of my energy back. Hopefully that means more blog posts!
Soon I will get back to my regular blogging, and I will even have a guest blogger, but I just wanted to write and say that I haven't forgotten y'all.
May God Bless, and as always, feel free to ask questions, who knows, it might be included in a blog post!