“But I tell you who hear me; love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28
Do you relate at all to this verse? Do any of the following apply to you?
- I have a co-worker that is confrontational with me.
- I have a neighbor that is always angry with me.
- I have a family member that criticizes me even when I do good.
- I have a person that I thought was my friend who is very nasty to me.
- I have a friend that betrayed me with lies, gossip, and slander.
I remember someone sharing at a conference, “1/3 of the people you’ll meet will love you. 1/3 of the people you’ll meet won’t like you at all. 1/3 of the people you meet could care less about you. So why do we work to please the 2/3?”
We probably all have someone who’s upset with us or perhaps even hates us. How we treat that 2/3, however, is very important! Do we react to them or respond to them? The Bible gives us a clear way to respond and that is to (continue) to do good to those who hate you.
Often the best response is to pray for those that mistrust and even hate us. We can practice ways to bless others without being doormats that “ask” for mistreatment, by responding to mistreatment that shows God is in control. He can help us to show love even though it’s so difficult to do so. We can ask Him to help us obey Roman 12:21 “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Someone probably came to your mind – if you’re still struggling with a particular person, what will you do to begin to start responding properly?