Ready for the Fight

A few days ago I decided I wanted to begin something new that I know I needed to be doing.
In Matthew 6 in the middle of Jesus' most famous sermon He says: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, 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.

After reading these words and truly taking them to heart, I decided this is what I needed to do.
So the next day, I did so.
I prayed for the people I know hate me. The people who are angry with me and that don't like me. I thought I had did good, but after time had passed I looked back and noticed something. The prayers I had for those people were not the same as the ones for people who loved me like I love them.
The passion wasn't the same.
There wasn't much joy.
Maybe you can relate?
Maybe you've tried to pray for people like these and couldn't.
Or maybe you can't even make yourself do it.
I know I've never been able to before.
Could it be we can only think of their problems?
What they've done to us.

We say we don't judge but does that only apply to people that we love.
I hear Christians say things all the time that bother me like:
That church is full of terrible people, or I can't believe he/she did that. They're horrible.
Sure, we all know people who have done and are doing things that are wrong, but judging is judging is judging.
We cannot justify our actions by the actions of others or by our intentions.
There are many more reasons I could list why we have such a hard time praying for people that hate us, or maybe we hate them even though we shouldn't. That isn't the point of this blog.
So I asked God what was missing because I wanted to pray for and love my enemies with the same passion, confidence, and love as I do those that I pray for daily.
I found that for most of us, the problem comes from confusion. We are looking at the wrong enemy.
If we see people as the enemy we will always have a problem loving everyone.
We will never be able to accept people the way Jesus did.
Now, lets go to Paul's words in Ephesians 6. In verse ten he tells us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. And to put on the whole armor of God- here's where most people stop. They are so ready to become a warrior but they attack the wrong enemy. If we keep reading he says so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle NOT against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers and the rulers of darkness.
You see, there is most certainly a war going on.
But we are attacking the wrong power.
Our war is against the devil and powers of darkness.
If we could truly grasp that people are not our enemies, no matter what they may do to us or our family, it would truly change the world.
So, I simply ask you, who have you been fighting against?
If it's against people like most of us, why don't we disarm this physical war and love them.
People are people.
They need love.
They need forgiveness.
They need you.
Remember, there was a time before you accepted Jesus or were just immature and didn't get everything you needed.
Would it have done any good for people to hate you and tell you you're hellbound because you aren't perfect?
No.
I know I'm rambling but I just want us to understand,
we are to love everyone as we love ourselves.
If we could truly get this,
it would change the world. :)