31 Days to Lovely: A Journey of Forgiveness by Hawkes Valente Sarah

Author:Hawkes Valente, Sarah [Hawkes Valente, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Whatever is Lovely Publications
Published: 2012-07-17T03:00:00+00:00

Jesus, please help me to remain calm and trusting as my enemies succeed and prosper around me. Help me to pray for them, and help me to trust you with them.

DAY FIFTEEN: Do Good to, Pray for, Bless

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

- Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)

I’ve heard it said that one should pay careful attention to how many times a principle is mentioned in Scripture. If God says it once, He means it; if He says it more than once, He wants to be sure that we really get it. If we heed the insistence of the New Testament, we will be thoroughly convinced—beyond reason and without question—that we are required to love our enemies. God’s not taking their side over ours; He’s asking us to side with righteousness. We’ve already died and been reborn! The strength to walk the Christian life comes post-mortem; therefore, we have no right to apply the same standards of righteousness to those who have yet to die. Alongside our salvation, we have received the command to love. In newness of life, we receive the power to love. This love, like all real love, has a practical application: do good to, pray for, bless.

~~~

When Samantha married Drew, divorce was not a door she left open. Even after years of abuse, she kept it closed. Samantha understood that God changes and transforms; her faith was not easily deterred by Drew’s hard-hearted resistance. But in a saving move, God cracked a window. In an effort to bring safety into her life and the lives of her children, Samantha packed their belongings and left.

The next few years were, in ways, even more difficult than the previous had been. Drew took his anger out on the children; and, before a judge, he blamed the abuse on Samantha. Samantha tip-toed around bitterness as her life rocked from side-to-side.

In time, both Drew and Samantha met and married other people. While Samantha’s marriage brought joy into her life, Drew’s marriage meant that another person was now critiquing her parenting and interfering in the lives of her children. This is not what she had planned for them and bitterness threatened to grow.

Praying women do inexplicable things, though, and through prayer Samantha’s heart slowly lost its hardened shape molding instead to the will of her Father’s. He’d asked her to bless her enemies, and she believed Him. Passive prayers soon gave way to bubbling brooks of blessing.

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