Responding to Enemies

Greetings brother and sisters in Christ! I pray that your day is and has been blessed! I'm just going to jump right in as usual. First some background. Before I gave my life to Christ, I was a type of person who didn't respond to things like disrespect, betrayal, and just being wronged an ANY way very well. I'm not talking about grieving about it, or any kind of normal way. I'm talking about violence, anger, and a strong urge for revenge! It didn't matter how long it took for me to get you, I was cold and calculating, very mean and evil at times. Point being, the situation was never resolved in my eyes, until I GOT YOU! Until you felt what was dished out to me and more! My endgame was to break you! When I was a lot younger, beating a person down was the first reaction, as I got older, it was my words. I have always had a way with words, but I used them for nefarious reasons. My thing was to tear you down mentally and emotionally if you were on my revenge list! Totally unhealthy, counter-productive, and evil! This morning, as I continued on my journey through the book of Corinthians (I was on 1 Corinthians chapter 6), God brought something to my attention! In the explanation of verses 7-8 at the bottom of the page (I have a study bible), Paul is saying, for the good of the gospel we should be willing to be wronged. No offense is severe enough to sacrifice one's Christian witness to non-believers! I took that very personal to say the least! As I have said in other posts, when you give your life to Christ, you have to allow Him to change you from the inside out! Piece by unhealthy piece God will expose a piece of you that is not like Him, give you the tools and the answers to change it, but it is ultimately up to us to put them into action! Now if you have read this blog from the beginning, and I don't suspect you have, I was going through a major shift in my life. A life changing trial, I was betrayed by family. Talked about behind my back, people saying one thing in my face, but spewing the opposite to others. Laughed at because I said I was saved and set free! What they didn't understand was my RESPONSE! I didn't respond like the old me would have! I showed love instead of anger, to there faces......they weren't met with a cuss out, or my evil intentions. Instead I prayed for them, spoke life and health for them, and begged God to help me forgive, forgive, FORGIVE! Even if they didn't believe my change, I didn't give them a reason to doubt the changing power of God! Now, I'm not going to say that behind closed doors I off and on had a hard time with forgetting, and there were times when I would slip into anger and resentment, but the word of God is powerful, and that is what helps me get through those moments! The point of all this is, people are watching, most will antagonize you on purpose to see how you will react! Some will even base how being a Christian is solely by how you act in your day to day life, picking and prodding at little things, as an excuse to not give their life to God! (I used to be that kind of person) Do not give them an excuse! I'm not saying be fake, be who you are, if you have allowed the word of God to renew your mind, and change your heart, you will be who God says you are! We are human, and not immune to mistakes. Paul wasn't saying to just lay down and be run over by a situation or a person who is doing you wrong. It's the response that should change, God will give you the wisdom and strength to handle whatever is going on. Forgive, separate from toxic people and surroundings that you know will continue to be the way they are! We are to be examples of the gospel, not add to the agenda to discredit what God can do, and has done! "No offense is severe enough to sacrifice one's Christian witness to non believers," the explanation worded it this way because there is no comparison to what Jesus went through on Calvary for our lives, and the gospel! There is not ONE THING Jesus went through that I would of! PERIOD!! So when I think about what has been done to me, and said about me, it is a drop in the bucket! Let your light shine to be a witness and a testament of what God has done, and can do for our lives! The old you might want to rise up, but great is the reward for the person who can love and forgive,  deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Jesus!! I love you very much!! I pray that God blesses you and continues to keep and protect you always! GOD LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE!!!

Song(s) for the day: "God Favored Me" by Hezekiah Walker

and "Let Us Not Be Weary" by John P. Kee

Galations 6:9 NIV

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." 

Matthew 5:44 NIV (part of the Sermon on the mount)

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you!" 

Luke 6:35-36

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be GREAT, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."