Johnny did me wrong.
Sally hurt my feelings.
Tom is spreading rumors about me.
Cathy stole my boyfriend.
So-and-so is bullying me.
Some people are just hard to love. We are to love them anyhow. “What?” Yes sir and yes ma’am.
As hard as it is, we (Christians) are to rise above, do as Jesus did, pray for our enemies, and let our great God take care of you and deal with those who have persecuted you.
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.” Matthew 5:43-47
Buckle up for the ride. You will have troubles. You will have people who do you wrong and persecute you.
“Everyone who wants to live showing true devotion to God in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Timothy 3:12
Remember…you are not like the world. You belong to God. You are different; so act and respond the way the Ultimate Parent desires for you to.
“If the world hates you, remember that they hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as it loves its own people. But I have chosen you to be different from those in the world. So you don’t belong to the world, and that is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19
We need to live for what is right. We need to strive to imitate Christ. Will we ever be exactly like Him? No. He was perfect. But we sure can make every effort to.
“This is what you were chosen to do. Christ gave you an example to follow. He suffered for you. So you should do the same as he did: 22 “He never sinned, and he never told a lie.” 23 People insulted him, but he did not insult them back. He suffered, but he did not threaten anyone. No, he let God take care of him. God is the one who judges rightly. 24 Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:21-24
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I pray that you will enjoy soaking up The Son every moment of each day. –Stephanie
