“Why fight when you can negotiate?”—Captain Jack Sparrow
“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 (Luke 6:27–28 NIV).
This can be a hard concept to grasp. We all have at least one person in our lives that rubs us the wrong way. The last thing we want to do is love them. But there it is, clear as day, in God’s Word. And it not only says to love them, but to bless them and pray for them. Wow. How hard is that?
Personally, I’ve had to deal with a few difficult people throughout my forty-nine years. It wasn’t until I really began to follow God that I understood what these passages meant. I am now able to give those people to God and to just pray for them—and yes, love them. When it’s Christ’s love, it’s easy.
Verses 29–30: If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Whenever we react to people who come up against us, we are feeding their fire, helping it to burst into flames! I don’t want that responsibility, do you? Therefore, I am doing my best to avoid adding to the situations that come my way by reacting in the right way.
So, how are we supposed to react? That question can be answered with the next verse in this passage.
Verse 31: Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Simply put, treat others the way you want to be treated.
You don’t want to be ignored, abused, hated . . . so don’t ignore, abuse or hate others.
So hard, yet so simple.
One last thought:
To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:20–21 NIV).
Wow, heaping burning coals on their heads? God knows how hard it is for us to love some people, but when we do, He lets us know that we are not just giving in to the situation.
It’s a win-win moment.
Debbie Mitchell