"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."
Can you believe that? We’re to pray something like, “Oh, Lord, I pray that You’d just make them so happy!” I still don’t get that, but I’m willing to do it in obedience and say, “Lord, I don’t know that I really want them to be happy, but I’ll pray that in faith anyway, because You’re telling me to bless them with Your presence.” Luke 6:35 NIV goes further. It says:
"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."
Now, let’s get practical about how to do this. If we have a coworker who gets the promotion that we’ve been believing God for, the minute we start to feel jealousy and envy, we need to go buy them a gift.
Yes, you heard me right: buy them a gift. It works. When we do it, it breaks the power of the devil because Romans 12:21 says that we overcome evil with good. It’s absolutely true too! I have learned this principle and it has been life-changing for me. When others around you start bad mouthing your co-worker and saying that you should of gotten the promotion; you speak good of the person and stop the jealousy in it's tracks! You will even start believing what you say!
What I Did When Someone Hurt Don and I
For example, a few years ago someone in our church that we respected came to Don and I and said some horrible things about our ministry. He was an elderly and highly respected man and he starting telling Don and I that we were teaching false doctrine and that our kids were going to be cursed! We just sat there on a Sunday morning flabbergasted and didn't know what to say or do! Then Don had to preach and all I did on the front row was try to plan how I was going to wrap his house or key his car! I am sooo spiritual!
At first I got mad and just wanted to tell everyone just what this elderly man had said(via the prayer line of course...like any good pastor's wife!) as well as tell him off personally...in Jesus name. Don held his hand up to me (he must of sensed the spirit of slap) and asked the gentlemen if he was finished and the man said "yes" and left. Don refused to talk about it the rest of the day and it infuriated me....I wanted to talk about this injustice!
Later that day, the Holy Spirit said to me, “You’re not going to do any of those things.” He said, “No, you’re going to do what you I tell you. You’re going to keep your mouth shut and I am going to take care of it.”
Needless to say, I resisted at first. But eventually Don and I decided to smile and not say another word about it; even to each other. The man came to us crying a week later saying that he didn't know what came over him. He got on his knees in front of us and begged for our forgiveness. We all cried together and prayed together right there on the floor of Don's office. The man was so faithful after that and always was a great encourager to all of us; Don had the great opportunity to preach his funeral later and people were saved. Wow...God can turn things around; can't he? If I would of opened my mouth...I could of messed everything up!
What You Must Do When Someone Hurts You
What I remember most about situations such as these is that as soon as I started taking action to do something good for them, it just got so funny to me. I was laughing out loud in my house, all by myself...God was giving me joy and victory over the thing! Of course God did give me a weird sense of humor; he must of known that I would need it!
Listen: When we can look at people who’ve hurt us with compassion and pray what Jesus prayed “…Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” there’s a party that goes on inside of us. (Even though the first prayer may be "Father let them rot and be exposed for all to see their evil ways!)
I think most of the time people don’t even realize what they are doing. That man who was talking about Don and I had no idea the position that he was putting himself in. I really think he was used by the enemy to ship wreck what God was doing in our church. The enemy will tear you down with bitterness and resentment if we open the door to it!
Why You Must Follow Forgiveness
That’s why we need to pray for them and say, “God forgive them.” In fact, what does God say will happen to us when we obey His Word?
Luke 6:35 states “…and then your recompense will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High….” God tells us that we’ll receive a reward. We will get double for our trouble if we will do things His way. (If we do things the Jonna way we will just get temporary satisfaction of showing people that they are wrong....then you feel guilty later and can't take it back!)
The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. Do you know what that means? It means that love will even have you making excuses for your enemies. Someone might come up to us and say, “Well, I heard what so-and-so did to you.” You will have the chance to turn that thing around and cause others to stop the talk! God has to give triple rewards for that!
When we really decide to forgive someone and pray the prayer that blesses our enemies, and making the decision that we will not talk bad about them, but instead, cover their fault and their mess, we still might not feel any different. But God didn't say that we would feel great about it...he just said to do it! Like exercise...it hurts and doesn't feel good...the fat cells are clinging and saying "NOOOOO" but if we are obedient and diligent....our lives will be changed!
Now, I believe choosing forgiveness is one of the most difficult things God asks us to do, especially if we believe that whoever hurt us is in the wrong and doesn’t deserve to be forgiven. But God instructs us to practice this and that means you might fail a few times at it. God knows your heart and when we choose to follow the path of forgiveness, we will experience the peace and joy that come through obeying God’s Word. Now who wouldn't want to have that?
Graciously Adorned
Jonna Gibson
*January 2010 MBAG Newsletter
