Matthew 5:44 NLT “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you.”
The translations notes for this verse say “Some manuscripts add Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you.”
I really ask a lot of you, don’t I? But I don’t ever do it without there being a very good reason!
Something very interesting happens when you love your enemy…it sets you free.
What do I mean? When you have an enemy, you tend to think about them, stew on what they have done to you, feel the pain of the hurt they brought you, and scheme about ways to protect yourself or get back at them. When you pray for them, when you love them, this turns all of this around and you are set free from the negative thought patterns and ideas.
If you forgive them, you are further set free. If you pray for them, you find even greater freedom because you discover that they are a person too who needs Me and needs My blessing…just like you. Often times you can see what is underneath their behavior toward you and it is always brokenness, trauma, or hurt in their past or in their current life.
If you go a step further and bless those who curse you then you powerfully invoke the verse:
Proverbs 26:2 ESV “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.”
When you bless someone who is cursing you, you ensure that you do not do something that deserves the curse and you ensure that their curse will not land on you.
This is really powerful!
If you take it a step further and do good to those who hate, you can become part of the solution that turns your enemy’s brokenness into a victory in the Kingdom through healing. This is one of those commands that you need to be a little bit careful with, particularly if you deal with codependency or if you deal with people pleasing. You are not doing good things to try to earn their approval, you are already approved by Me, you don’t need their approval. You are not doing good things in order to get something from them. You already have all that you need from Me. You are not doing good things to try to get them to stop hurting you. I am your vengeance (Romans 12:19), your refuge and your strength (Psalm 91:1). Most importantly, I am certainly NOT telling you to do something that puts you at risk of further hurt from this person. When you choose to take this step and do good to those who hurt you, I would like you to ask Me first what you can do and then obey what I say to do very carefully. This will protect you and it will allow you to do something meaningful that has the potential of changing the other person’s heart (and yours too for that matter).
I don’t give you these cautions to try to keep you from doing good for your enemy, I simply want to make sure that you do this with Me right there next to you.
Truthfully, you will only be able to do any of these commands if I am there with you. It is a big ask to have you love, pray for, bless, and do good to those who are against you.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, _____ comes to mind as I read this. Out of obedience and a desire to experiment with this verse I turn my attention toward loving them and wanting them to feel the experience of being loved. I pray for them because I know they need You. I pray that you soften their heart toward You and see Your blessing and goodness. I bless them and hope that they will see the truth of who they are in You, they are a child of the Most High God and knowing this will change everything for them. Lord, if there is something good I can do for _____ will You please let me know what it is?
Thank you,
Amen
I believe this is a message to us from God, written from His perspective – Sherri
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