 |
| Photo by Creative Common Image |
I am
a recovering people pleaser, so my list of enemies has been relatively short.
Even with all my efforts to be everyone’s favorite, there have been a few
people I couldn’t please.
The
words of Mary DeMuth lanced my recently wounded and inflamed heart.
In Wall
Around Your Heart: How Jesus Heals You When Others Hurt You, Mary reminds us how Jesus dealt with His foes:
“He offered grace to those who violated His laws. He dignified outcasts. He engaged Himself in the very world that put
Him to death. Jesus is our example of
openhearted living; of exhibiting wild love that dared to wash the feet of
Judas, who betrayed Him; of reinstating Peter, who denied Him thrice. Jesus, in His divine irresistibility
welcomed all, loved all, endured all.” All!
I’ve
been trying to swallow this bitter reality.
I have been Jesus’ enemy. I have:
- Relented too many times to premarital sex
- Chosen divorce
- Lied about my sin to protect my reputation
- Chewed relentlessly on the faults of my
husband
- Broadcasted the faults of a family member
like a spewing hydrant
Yet,
he lets me wear this robe of His righteousness.
He calls me friend. His mercy for
my attitude, my irresponsibility, and broken promises to Him, others, and
myself is new every morning!
God is love.
He loves me with 1 Corinthians 13 love. He is patient with me while I struggle to
grasp the gospel. He is kind to me even
though I have dismissed His instructions.
He is not rude to me with snarls and reminders of my weaknesses. He does not force His rules on me but gives
me the freedom to choose to say yes. He
is not irritable with me because He’s exhausted from cleaning up my messes and
yours, too.
He prays for me.
He empowers
me.
While
I was His enemy, He pursued me with a hope-filled love. He held out His hand to me, smiled, and
offered His help.
In
Luke chapter 6, Jesus gives us radical relationship instructions.
27 “Love your enemies. Do
good to those who hate you. 28 Bless
those who curse you. Pray for those who
abuse you.” 35 “But love
your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your
reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High,
for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be
merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
There
it is in verse 35: “He
is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” You and me, we are the ungrateful, evil ones, and He
is merciful. He is kind to us.
The
one who hurt me has seemed so ungrateful for my kindness and support. I
will be merciful. I will be kind.
I
am choosing to see this enemy as God’s little girl, hurt and walled off
emotionally. When I do, she looks much like I once felt and still do at
times.
I am choosing to take my
ugly thoughts about her into the obedience
of Christ; the obedience of praying for her and blessing her. (Luke
27-36)
I
have more peace.
“The greatest challenge of my life is choosing to
commune with God with everything I am, learning to receive His wild, but
abundant love, then flinging it joyfully in people’s direction.”
Mary DeMuth, “Wall Around Your Heart
Jennifer White
pursues God in prayer with the Bible as her guide. She leads others to do
the same at Prayerfully Speaking.
Being wife to David is her highest calling. She recently completed
her first book, Prayers for new Brides: Putting on the Armor After the Wedding
Dress. #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK with her that God is and does
"more than we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20). #GodAnswers
Thank you so much for interacting with the book! Such a blessing.
ReplyDelete