Not liking someone is NO excuse for not loving them:
Psalm 62:1 says, "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him." Colossians 3:12-14 tells us, "God has chosen you and made you His holy people. He loves you. So your new life should be like this: show mercy to others. Be kind, humble, gentle & patient. Don't be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you. Together with these things, the most important part of your new life is to LOVE each other. Love is what holds everything together in perfect unity."
Love your enemies! That is a very hard statement to try to comprehend. Why in the world would we want to "love" the people that seem to make our lives the most difficult, who stand in our way of victory? Because Jesus told us to! Let's look back at one of the last things Jesus said to us before he died on the cross. In Matthew 28:20 he says, "Teach them to obey everything that I have told you to do. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of time." So if Jesus could be this kind after being brutally beaten beyond recognition then how can we not accept His truths and carry on his message?
I know at times the enemies may have done some unthinkable acts of selfishness, but it is not our place to judge their hearts or the motives which drive their lives. All we are responsible for is how we as Christians carry out our actions and our lives. God will handle us all individually when we walk through the gates of Heaven. Each person will account for their own sins, so let the enemy stand alone at that time, don't do something negative that will have you standing with them. Luke 6:32 tells us, "If you love only those who love you, should you get any special praise for doing that? No, even sinners love those who love them!" The word love is so misunderstood is today's society. People think that to love you have to like first and to some degree that is true on an earthy/fleshy level. But God wants us to love with "agape" love, His love. Agape love is NOT a feeling; it does NOT depend on how we feel or how others feel about us. We can express agape love whether the feelings are present or absent, whether they are good or bad. Agape love is an action not a feeling. God will know that we love Him if we keep his commandments.
Think for a moment! Aren't you glad that God's love towards us is not mercy based on a feeling? I mean we all do some silly things at times and how much would God turn away if his love was only a feeling on how we are performing or measuring up? I know I fail daily, I try to do & say the right things, but I stumble, I am imperfect. I am learning & growing in my faith, but all the while God loves me despite my blemishes. If God can love me so much despite my imperfections then how can we put a limit or an amount that we can only love someone else? How can we say I like you, but I don't love you? How would you feel if God said that to you? John 4:16 says "We are capable of loving because He loved us first."
We are all guilty of walking around not liking someone in our life because they have done something, said something or acted a certain way in which WE did not agree. And since we didn't agree with the way they treated us we start "not liking" them. The world which is a sinful place has taught us to get even, to hold grudges, to ignore, to strike back/retaliate, to spread gossip, to talk badly about, but what does this teach us inside? What does this do with the pain that we felt when they hurt us? It does nothing but harbor bad feelings against that person, reflects a negative outlook on our own life and put the other person further away from seeing the reflection of God.
Hollywood makes blockbuster movies with a simple story line-the hero of the movie is hurt or a victim of injustice, and throughout the movie seeks to recover what is rightfully his or hers. And when they finally get to the end, we cheer the hero's revenge, "All right, go for it, that evil person deserves it!" For many of us the definition of an enemy is "a former friend." You were in a relationship with someone that should have been a confident friendship-but they deceived you. And Jesus says here is how I want you to reply to that enemy today-love them! "This does not make sense!" you say. Why should I love them? Look at all the hurt this person caused in my life, and now you just want me to love that person? If this enemy has come to beg for my forgiveness-if they have really changed-I still find it hard to forgive and love them.
But what about the enemy who has not changed-they are still the same evil person that hurt me so deeply? God knows our weaknesses, and He has promised to provide the power we need when we do not have the strength to do what He asks us to do. So the good news is that if you don't know how to love this enemy, God will help you.
When God calls us to do well to those who hate us, it rarely seems logical. But God has a plan bigger than we can see. I cannot guarantee that your act of doing well will bring results immediately. God wants us to do good works whether or not the other person changes. Your job is not to change your enemy. Your job is to follow Jesus, and do what He directs you to do. Jesus made the point that even when we give a cup of cold water to someone in need, God sees this and will reward us. (Matthew 10:42) Remember love is not a feeling, love is an action. Think about this for a second, "we are often unlikeable to God, yet he still loves us!" Whatever we do today, tomorrow or way down in the future, God still loves us. He doesn't give us ultimatums of his love, he says to simply repent, pick up our cross and continue to follow him. When others see that we can love people who are not likable, when they have wronged us, belittled us or spread rumors about us, we will have one of the strongest witnesses of God's grace.
Your worst battle is between what you know and what you feel. Stop feeling & start acting. Actions speak louder than words, and actions can truly show the non-Christian side of you if you let your emotions get carried away. Remember love is from our Father. 1 John 4:8, "GOD IS LOVE." If God is love and we want God to protect, care and provide for our lives, then we must show and share love every single place we go. Love believes in all, conquers all. Love sacrificially! Sacrificial love is not based on a feeling, but a determined act of will, a joyful resolve to put the welfare of others above our own.
So, we all know that our deepest desire is to be loved and accepted. That's what God wants for us too. He does love and accept us, not matter what. But it is still our duty to love and accept other people; to care for them despite what we think. If someone is nasty to me, I don't walk away, I have learned to see their hurt and it only draws me closer. People need love and sometimes they don't realize how they need it. It's up to us to love them the way that they need to be loved (And I don't mean be all mushy). I mean really listen to them and give them what they need (not want) but need. So many people just need to be listened to. That's a way to love them. Don't you want to be listened to?
So how do you bless someone who is cursing you? Instead of planning revenge, offer a simple prayer, "God, please bless this person." Every time this person comes to your mind, use those thoughts to trigger this simple prayer. You may find yourself praying this prayer a hundred times a day-keep doing it!
What does this prayer accomplish? First it frees you from thinking curses back on this person. It also fits closely with God's view of forgiveness-you release to God the full responsibility to punish their sin. This prayer of blessing enables you to be at peace in your heart even though the relationship may not have changed. Blessing those who curse you also speaks to how you talk about this person who has cursed you. Instead of speaking to others about the hurt and how wrong the other person is, you can choose to only speak in a positive way about that person. Do not repeat the curses of this person so the whole world can know how wrong they are; instead choose to speak kind words.
If you can't say anything else, tell others you are praying that God will bless this person who has hurt you. Remember the story of Jonah (Chapters 1-4)? The Lord wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach and turn the town around, but Jonah didn't want to go because they were his enemies. So he fled from the Lord, got on a ship and sailed away. Jonah drifted off to sleep and a huge storm came with waves crashing all around. The men on the ship ran to Jonah and said "why are you sleep and what troubles have you brought with you?" Jonah told the men that he had fled from the Lord and they could throw him into the sea to stop the storm. They threw Jonah over and he was swallowed by a big fish. He spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the fish. He pleaded to the Lord and the fish spit him out on dry land. Jonah was always very selfish and always thinking about himself, but God still protected him. HE wanted to teach Jonah a lesson. Jonah learned that even though some people did evil and wicked things they were still loved by the Lord. So he went to Nineveh and preached. The people turned from their wicked ways and Jonah learned that all men, women & children are ALL precious in the sight of the Lord whether they do good or bad even though they may not know God. Everyone deserves a chance to have, learn about and see God's love in action.
So the next time someone wrongs you, think of Jonah, he was in your very same shoes and he chose the hard way to learn the lesson from God. Try going around the heartache of learning that same lesson and just pray for the person who has wronged you. Pray that God will set them free from whatever bondage they are being held captive to. Pray that whatever is making them hateful or mean is broken down and shattered into a million pieces so that they can no longer carry that pain. Pray that the Lord will bless them abundantly beyond belief and that their old way of thinking is gone and they are now renewed in a fresh spirit of Gods amazing love. Pray that they will see you for the helping hand of God and that you could have made their life much harder, but you chose the high road, the road that leads to eternity. Pray that you can be a blessing in someone's life today. That person that is in front of you at McDonalds that is ordering everything on the menu and making you later by the minute, just chill and don't say unkind thing. That person taking your money at the drive thru window that never says good morning or have a nice day, chill, and be the first to speak. That person who cuts you off in traffic, chill, maybe they have an emergency. That person that is ugly to you at work, chill, they may have a sickness or a loved one going through something very heartbreaking. That spouse that never seems to have understanding, chill, they may need you just to love them unconditionally.
There are a million things we can do every single day to express Gods love more abundantly. The quicker we are to get angry at every single thing that ticks us off is only showing that we drive our race, not God. The slower we are to react and the quiet heart we bring to the table shows patience and a reflection of God's everlasting love. Put no limits on love because God puts no limits on you. Remember thoughts & words are containers or weapons for carrying creative or destructive power. They can be used against Satan & his work or they can actually help him in his plan of destruction. To live in victory you MUST begin by lining up your thoughts with God's word and then carrying out his commandments.
Dr. Martin Luther King: "And this is what Jesus means, I think, in this very passage when he says, "Love your enemy." And it's significant that he does not say, "Like your enemy." Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don't like what they do to me. I don't like what they say about me and other people. I don't like their attitudes. I don't like some of the things they're doing. I don't like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it."
George Orwell 1984: "We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them."
Shannon L. Alder:
"Reputation is what others think of us; character is what God knows of us. When you have spent what feels like eternity trying to repair a few moments of time that destroyed the view others once had of you, then you must ask yourself if you have the problem or is it really them? God doesn't make us try so hard…….the enemies do."
Richard Nixon: "Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then, you destroy yourself."
"The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love." ― Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare.
Keep your mind focused on what is calming, if it burns you up inside or causes you frustration, do NOT react on those feelings, instead put it into love which is an action and make it count! Your actions will be remembered not what you say. When in doubt say nothing, take the silence and pray for guidance and direction.
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