By“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,” — Matthew 5:43 - 44 NKJV
My pastor, Rev. Justice Osei Kwadwo Agyemang, once said that “to every rise and build, there’s a rise to oppose.”
When a man sets his heart to follow God’s vision for his life, he becomes an enemy to several people, some knowingly and some unknowingly.
Nehemiah showed up to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. And from nowhere, Sanballat and Tobiah arose as enemies. Did he hate them? No! Nevertheless, he didn’t give his time to them. He focused on building the wall with his team, and they fulfilled the task.
To every rise and build, there’s a rise to oppose.
Rev. Justice Osei Kwadwo Agyemang
When Jesus tells us to love our enemies, He’s not teaching us something impossible to do. He is saying, “love your enemies so much that you’ll pray for them.”
See, God can use anybody or anything to help us fulfil our purpose; that includes our enemies also. For example, Jesus declared in John 10:30 that “I and My Father are one.” Then in John 10:31, his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him. By John 10:33, these opponents confirmed what Jesus has been preaching for long, which many people even find hard to understand in our generation. That is, “Jesus is God.”
I’m telling you that there are some things your enemies will say about you that you don’t even recognise about yourself. The things your enemies do in attempt to destroy you might be hurtful, but if you’ll be discernible, you’ll recognise that whatever they do will end up working for your good.
You only have to possess the spirit of understanding for you to understand why God allowed such people to do those evil things against you.
Let’s stop hating people because they don’t speak good things about us. If your name as God’s child is gossiped about somewhere by evil people, rejoice because Jesus is being made known because of you.
Focus on following Jesus and fulfiling God’s mandate for your life. You’ll get enemies. But hey, whatever they do will contribute to your purpose fulfilment, even if it bestows long-suffering or indirect character build-up in your life. Love your enemies.
You’re a blessing.
Prayer
Oh God, thank you for Your love. Refresh me with the Spirit of understanding so that I can discern the reason(s) and spiritual purpose behind the things done by my enemies as well as how they contribute to the gospel spreading to people in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Devotional Code: KGD // 2022 – 238
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