Jesus’ Biggest Challenge for His Followers
I woke up in the middle of the night saying, “Lord, you want me to do what?” As I lay there trying to understand what was happening and gather my thoughts, the Holy Spirit once again said, “Bless those who persecute you.” This was the second time I heard those words. It was 2:30 am, and the last thing I wanted to hear was something about blessing those who persecute me or anybody else. Let’s face it, of all the things we are challenged to do in scripture, one of the hardest is to bless those who are filled with hate, scorn, and evil. We are talking about people who are abusive with their words and actions.
We saw what happened in Charlottesville and it was painful, ugly and disgusting. It isn’t a natural instinct to bless those who are persecuting you or others. Our natural response when we are attacked is to fight back with every fiber of our being, yet Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
This is the opposite of the way the world tells us to act. Why? The enemy has been stirring up trouble for thousands of years. The enemy is on a hell-bent mission to destroy society as we know it. In John 10:10 the scripture tells us, “The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.”
It’s Unfair
So, Jesus asks us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. How does this even sound fair? After all, why should we pray for those who are out to destroy us any way they can? How am I supposed to love and pray for people who hide behind white robes and masks and who believe because of the color of their skin they are superior to others? How do I love and pray for those who constantly stir up hatred and provoke others to do evil?
“Sheila, because sin is sin.” This life isn’t fair, but God is just. We are born into a fallen world. Until we come into relationship with Christ, we are all evil and prone to sin. When we follow the world’s example and determine for ourselves who deserves grace and who doesn’t, we are as messed up as the world. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ever be upset or angry about the evil things people do, but when we allow our feelings to take over in a way that pushes God out of the equation and we follow our own agenda, we become part of the problem.
There was a man named Jonah who didn’t think the people of Nineveh deserved God’s grace, either. We tend to judge Jonah because he didn’t do as God required at first, but I have come to the conclusion there is a little Jonah in all of us.
Can you imagine what would happen if those of us who call ourselves Christ-followers would start loving and praying for our enemies? We ourselves were all enemies of God at one time, and because of Christ’s love for us we were given the gift of His grace. The only side Jesus wants us to choose is love. Share on XThe only side Jesus wants us to choose is love. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. And we can’t change people’s minds, but prayer can.
Our True Enemy
We can say the fight is about statues, race, rights, and beliefs, but the truth is we are dealing with principalities of the dark and as long as we perpetuate hate we become part of the curse of death. Every time we fight with each other we all lose and the devil sits back and laughs.
The only way to change the circumstances is by each of us taking responsibility to pray and demonstrate love, even to our enemies. Will it be easy? No. It will take self-examination, prayer, and obedience to God. This will mean putting others before ourselves. It is going against the grain of the world, which won’t understand our actions, but the world didn’t understand Jesus’ actions either.
The important question is, will we listen to God or will we continue running and doing our own thing? How much will it end up costing us if we don’t follow the Word of God and love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us and those we care about?
True Grace and Goodness
We can no longer afford the luxury of sitting on the sidelines doing nothing, or believing the issues going on are all others’ problems and not our own. Throughout scripture we see what has happened when God’s people choose to run away from their problems rather than to run to God with their problems.
It isn’t our responsibility to pass out judgment. That is God’s job. It is our job not to allow evil to have precedence over good.
Luke 6:31-34 says, “Do to others as you would like them to do to you. If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.”
This sums it up for all of us. Treat others as you want to be treated and let God handle the rest.
I love this, Sheila. I think prayer and lifting up the name of Jesus are the only ways we are going to have any victory in this world. Whether is hatred, sexual sins or self indulgence, we will only see ground gained by getting on our knees and lifting up Jesus. – Amy
http://stylingrannymama.com/
Hi, Amy!
Oh, my sister, do I agree with you! Prayer and unconditional love will go a long ways! When we keep our eyes and heart focused on God we see others as God once saw us…sinners saved by grace.
It can be so incredibly hard to find love for some people. I try to start with understanding why a person may be the way they are. That helps me find some empathy which can lead to love and compassion.
Hi, Carissa!
It is true when we try to understand the person something always rises up to give us empathy to pray! Thanks for your words.
Sheila, thank you for this post. As an African American some parts of me long to know there is empathy out there. This post reminds me of one I wrote not to long ago after the verdict of Philando Castille which I’ll lnk below.
God gave me the same conviction…as angry and as hurt as we may be…God STILL wants us to love just like Jesus loved his enemies while he was going to the cross. Thank you for your words!
Tiffany,
Thank You! I love when God speaks in stereo to our hearts. I have to remember it isn’t about me, but those who have no relationship with Christ who are heading to hell. I was there once too. Now, I know how others felt about me with such a wicked heart. We are blessed with God’s love which covers us!
Excellent thoughts and very convicting. It is ok to be angry about sin but it is our responsibility to love and pray for people.
Katie,
It was because of conviction God made me write it! Thank You for your encouragement. It is easy to write about things which make people feel good, but hard when it is a personal message from God to you! I have no right not to pray for those who are lost.
Sheila, thank you for this post! Particularly in relation to Charlottesville situation, I have forgotten to pray for our enemies and those I don’t feel are on the “right” side of the issue. Yes, it’s important for us to speak out against wrongdoing, but as you say it is also incredibly important for us to pray for those who do wrong.
Emily,
Thank You for your encouragement! It isn’t always easy to pray for our enemies until I realize I was once an enemy of Christ too!
I have been asking God the same question lately. I, too, believe we can no longer sit on the sidelines. The fight isn’t about race, but I posted about it this week. It’s amazing how afraid we are to talk about it. People have been almost silent on the issue. We need to align ourselves with God’s will. Without Him, we can do nothing. Amazing, a lot of what you said this week is material in a Bible study I’m doing. Giving me a new boldness. It’s time to stop being Chicken Little and be obedient.
Hi, Sheila! I loved your words you shared with us this week. We can’t be afriad to talk about those things which break our hearts, make us uncomfortable or are hard! Ministry was never easy for Jesus and I can’t expect it to be comfortable for me. What Bible study are you doing? You are dead on in saying we have to align ourselves with God’s will and it is his heart that none should perish! We can walk in boldness together! Love you sister!
The Lord asked me if I was willing to appear foolish for Him. That took some time to say yes too.
Hi, Alice!
I’d rather be a fool for Christ than a fool to the world! My heart’s desire is to finish this race strong!
Blessing those who persecute you and praying for them is hard, but we need to realize who our true enemy is, and it’s not people.
Hi, Susan!
You are right about each us realizing who the true enemy is there is nothing new under the sun concerning him. He has been doing the same crap with people for centuries!
wow, this is powerful. He will do whatever he has to get our attention to do his perfect will
Hi, Terri!
Thanks for commenting! No matter what God is still on the throne!
You are right! We can’t push God out of an issue just because we don’t like how people are acting. We do need to call out what is wrong.