Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Love Your Enemies!


 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!  Do good to those who hate you.  Bless those who curse you.  Pray for those who hurt you.”
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”

—Luke 6:27-28, 31 (NLT)


Heavenly Father,

Help me be willing to listen to, and to follow, Your instructions.  Help me to love and do good to everyone—even those who hate and curse me.  Help me to do to others just as I would want others to do to me.

Help me not to allow how others treat me, or mistreat me, to determine the path that I walk down—but rather make my path straight and my way sure, as I listen and follow the example that was set before me in Christ.

But also show me how truly loving another person does not mean enabling them to continue to sin—for in doing so, I become an active participant in the sin.  Instead, help me always to stand for both Truth and Grace—as expressed through Christ’s perfect love—as equally necessary parts of any good relationship I might have.

Let my actions reflect my love for You, and let my love for others be an outflow of that love for You—as I surrender the desires of my mind, will and emotions to the control of Your Holy Spirit, so I can walk in the freedom and the joy You have reserved for those who choose to follow Christ obediently.

Help me do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me and always pray for those who hurt me—so that they might be rescued by Your love from the sin that enslaves them, and so I won’t destroy my own life by harboring an unforgiving heart.

Help me be willing to listen to, and to follow, Your instructions.  Help me to love and do good to everyone—even those who hate and curse me.  Help me to do to others just as I would want others to do to me.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

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