Praying For Those Who Despitefully Use You
Greetings sisters!
I hope you have done better in this area than I have.
I hope you have done better in this area than I have.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43-48)
I confess, I have struggled in this area. I'm no better than anyone, nor do I think so but there are times I either forget or resist praying for our enemies who do wicked things to us. We are no greater than our master and the world hated Him first.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
(Matthew 15:18-31)
Throughout the past many years of our ministry we've weathered some wicked events from those who we thought had the love of God but in the end, they were evil. The latest one was a big one, blasphemous to our God and brother Jim had to remind me that we are to pray for our enemies. I don't do that very well and I must work on that. To be honest, I would rather just ignore them and try to put them out of my memory so I can move on but if I'm commanded to pray for them then I must find a way to overcome the hurdles and do so.
Sometimes I fight anger when professed believers do such things and I try to examine it to see if it's a fleshly (sinful) anger or a righteous (spiritual) anger. I talk to brother Jim about it and have him help me examine because quite frankly I don't want either.
Sometimes I fight great sadness when I see how easily those who claim Christ, cast away those who truly serve Him. I wonder if they are striving on or have fallen away, are they growing or just sitting where they were when they left. Then I think I'd rather just put them out of my mind because it hurts too bad to think about.
Sometimes I get irritated and wonder why those who claim Christ aren't reading and obeying God's Word because if they did we all would be striving for unity 1 Corinthians 1:10, but instead of fighting through everyone's flesh for the glory of God, they take off and do their own thing. It's not glorifying to God and I would rather just forget and move on.
But we are commanded to pray for those who despitefully use us.
We've been despitefully used a LOT over the past 12 years and I've struggled tremendously over all those years to be blameless in my reactions. I've failed often and I now understand why....I don't have a right mindset.
I never want revenge, I just want peace for my own flesh which is selfish. I don't even want to think about them so that I don't have to fight my flesh but I need to sacrifice that flesh of mine and pray for those people who have used and hurt not only us but most of all the name of Christ!
By praying for them I will grow stronger in being able to deal with such situations in the future and it will grow my godly love for others. I think I have love for all people but I see that if I would rather not think about them because I don't want to deal with the emotions from it, then I am lacking in that area. If I love, I will pray for those who despitefully use and persecute us.
Brother Jim pointed out that we are also to bless them that curse us. If praying for them wasn't enough, God wants us to give even more which will strip away more flesh.
I best be focusing on this area because much more persecution is coming and there will no doubt be more people despitefully using us. I want to be a shining light of truth and love to all, not just those who are easy to get along with. If we love only those which love us, what reward do we have???
If that's not a rebuke I don't know what is! The word 'perfect in verse 48 means 'mature'.
Be mature Deb, pray for your enemies and bless those who curse you.
Hopefully if you are like me, you also will work hard to be obedient.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
Sometimes I fight anger when professed believers do such things and I try to examine it to see if it's a fleshly (sinful) anger or a righteous (spiritual) anger. I talk to brother Jim about it and have him help me examine because quite frankly I don't want either.
Sometimes I fight great sadness when I see how easily those who claim Christ, cast away those who truly serve Him. I wonder if they are striving on or have fallen away, are they growing or just sitting where they were when they left. Then I think I'd rather just put them out of my mind because it hurts too bad to think about.
Sometimes I get irritated and wonder why those who claim Christ aren't reading and obeying God's Word because if they did we all would be striving for unity 1 Corinthians 1:10, but instead of fighting through everyone's flesh for the glory of God, they take off and do their own thing. It's not glorifying to God and I would rather just forget and move on.
But we are commanded to pray for those who despitefully use us.
We've been despitefully used a LOT over the past 12 years and I've struggled tremendously over all those years to be blameless in my reactions. I've failed often and I now understand why....I don't have a right mindset.
I never want revenge, I just want peace for my own flesh which is selfish. I don't even want to think about them so that I don't have to fight my flesh but I need to sacrifice that flesh of mine and pray for those people who have used and hurt not only us but most of all the name of Christ!
By praying for them I will grow stronger in being able to deal with such situations in the future and it will grow my godly love for others. I think I have love for all people but I see that if I would rather not think about them because I don't want to deal with the emotions from it, then I am lacking in that area. If I love, I will pray for those who despitefully use and persecute us.
Brother Jim pointed out that we are also to bless them that curse us. If praying for them wasn't enough, God wants us to give even more which will strip away more flesh.
I best be focusing on this area because much more persecution is coming and there will no doubt be more people despitefully using us. I want to be a shining light of truth and love to all, not just those who are easy to get along with. If we love only those which love us, what reward do we have???
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:46-48)
If that's not a rebuke I don't know what is! The word 'perfect in verse 48 means 'mature'.
Be mature Deb, pray for your enemies and bless those who curse you.
Hopefully if you are like me, you also will work hard to be obedient.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
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