Got enemies?

Have you ever been betrayed?  Persecuted?  Felt attacked?   It hasn’t happened often in my life but the times it has it was serious stuff and brought about constant struggles in an effort to forgive, offer grace, and move forward.

Paul devotes a large section of Romans 12 addressing how we are supposed to treat those who have done or said things that have hurt us.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.   

17a Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Do not vaguebook on Facebook to shame them.

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 

20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]

Summarizing all those verses, Paul is saying — let it go and be kind to those who do evil to you.  It allows you to move on…. because harboring bitterness and unforgiveness hurts us way more than it does them.  What happens to them is God’s business and He will take care of it.   

God is reminding us to act lovingly even when we don’t feel like it …. and to do the right thing, even when it is hard.   We should not take over playing God and decide what they deserve — but leave it to him.

And who knows, if we continue to bless, return good for evil, feed and give something to drink to those who have hurt us, in time we might actually create a bridge to restore the relationship.

Give it a try!

(By the way, Romans twelve doesn’t really use the work vaguebook or Facebook — I added it to see if you were paying attention.    I added it because I have been so tempted to do that the past few days with a particular situation, but am choosing to take the high road)