Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:44
This is not an easy verse, but let’s be honest, if we only lived our Christian lives through the verses that were easy, can we truthfully say we are walking in the fullness of Christ? Over time we discover that our faith becomes more visible when life gets hard and situations are challenging, for there’s not a lot to demonstrate when everything is easy.
One of the challenges that probably comes to us all at some point along the way, is being betrayed, hurt or wronged at the hands of another. It can become even more challenging when the wrong is done to someone we love.
We all react in different ways to this particular kind of stress, and talking to God about it may not always be the first thing on our list. Eventually though, we will bring our anger and hurt to God in various ways. We might come looking for an answer as to why this is happening, or through tears, pouring out our hearts in despair, all the while wondering how we can fight back.
Then, instead of the hope that God might hand out divine retribution on our behalf, He gives us a command: ‘Pray for the one who has caused you distress.’ Pray for them? Are You kidding me? I don’t want to pray for them. In fact, nothing could be further from my mind. Yet, that is exactly what God wants, and expects, of us if we are living in the attitude of Christ.
The Lord Jesus chose to love us even though we had wrong Him, hurt Him, betrayed Him – and still do. He granted us mercy; He poured out grace; He forgave us – and continues to do so every day. He prayed for His enemies and for those who persecuted Him.
But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Romans 5:20
It is not an easy thing to pray for someone who has caused us distress, and the first experience of it will feel extremely uncomfortable. It may take a long time to turn anger into grace, but by continuing to pray, a shift will occur in our spirit and in our heart. Prayer changes things – maybe not for the person we’re praying for – but it will definitely change us, because it will pull us deeper into the Father’s heart.
When the challenge comes, allow the Spirit of God to take your anger and replace it with His bountiful grace.
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