Tuesday, January 26, 2010

You want me to do what, Jesus?

"But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you." ~Luke 6:27-31

A hard subject for me to talk about. Hate. Hating other people. Bashing other people. Just wanting to hate hate hate someone. I was recently reading the sixth chapter of Luke when I came across "love your enemies." And my reaction to this was YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT, Jesus? Love my enemies, I mean come on obviously if they are my enemies I am not going to love them. And for the many time's I've read this passage I always looked at enemies in the sense of I'm a super agent spy and I have to get rid of all the enemies that are threatening me. haha the imagination. But when I was reading it today I understood what Jesus meant. Jesus did not command that I only love those I like, and love those who hurt me, but to also love EVERYONE, even the person that I like the least of all. This meaning I must love all people, even the ones I constantly find annoying, or drive me crazy. It was a good conclusion to reach seeing as last night when I came across something that disturbed me my immediate reaction was to hate this person. How could they say they were a Christian and want what God want's and here they are bashing someone. It was extremely difficult not to call this person out. But God always teaches me new things each and every day, so I let it go.

This is the part where I tell you that I forgave the person and everything was better, but I can't say that just yet. Because what the person did wasn't to me it was to someone close to me. And it's not my place to forge my way through and try to solve everyone's problem (Something God also had to teach me!) But I was not and I will not spend more time in hate then time in prayer with my Heavenly Father. I will not let hate take over my life. Although it's hard to let it go, believe me, there are things I need to work on, especially when it comes to people that drive me crazy. But God is sewing many seeds into my heart and teaching me new things everyday. How to forgive even if I don't want to and even if my "enemy" doesn't ever forgive me.

"You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." I cannot tell you don't hate other people when I, myself struggle with it as well. Hey, we're all human, and this blog that I keep is for me to learn and to write what God is teaching me, and if what God is teaching me can teach somebody else, or help somebody else then why not share it? Here's the thing, Prayer is one of the most powerful tools God has given us, and instead of being controlled by our anger, sadness, love, (emotions) we should listen to what God is saying "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES (the unlikeable people). Through the power or prayer and the power of God's grace He will unbound your hands and remove the chains of hate that hold you down. God's grace can change the relationship that is filled with hare and avoidance to one of love, service, and kindness. Pray.

So this lesson, this blog I share with you as well as myself: love, love, love! If God puts someone in your path that drives you crazy, pray blessings upon their life. Allow God's grace through your prayers to transform your heart from hate/annoyance into true genuine love for that person. Use this as a way to be transformed by God's grace by taking a step into a new journey. A journey that God has chosen. A journey of learning to love. The hate that you have will consume you whole, it will destroy you from the inside out. But God's love, His beautiful, merciful, abounding love brings abundant life and joy!

I leave you with the all too familiar verse out of 1 Corinthians (also known as the love chapter) Read it, ponder it, and love:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).


Just think about it



His and yours


Cami

1 comment:

  1. Hey little Sis. This is a lesson that has taken me years to learn, and still I have to walk around the mountain a few times. I often remind myself of the scripture about the plank in my own eye! Trust me. We were under horrible attack from some of the community people this year because of competition with our corn maze. It has been really hard to love these people when they have been hurting my husband. Again ... the plank in my eye. We have to love, pray, love, and pray. I HAVEN'T arrived yet.

    Blessings,
    Beth

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