“Doing good, blessing, and praying can repair relationships.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – October 23, 2024
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. Luke 6:27-28, NLT
How do you love someone when you don’t feel like loving them? Jesus shows us and tells us how to: do good in place of hate, bless instead of curse, and pray instead of hurt. It’s straightforward, but it can certainly be challenging, right? But right before Jesus goes to an exhortation on loving behavior, He describes a humble attitude of listening to learn…to you who are willing to listen. Implication? Before you explain all the ways you have been misunderstood and mistreated, take a minute and truly listen to a better way than having your way in retaliation. You can always find someone who will understand and side with your argument, but what if you elevate the conversation above seeking ways to hurt the one who has hurt you? Instead, start by listening to the Lord and seek to understand a process of love, forgiveness, and healing that avoids a lifetime of relational hurt. Doing good, blessing, and praying can repair relationships.
In the classic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes a case for loving another, especially when you do not feel like loving,
The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you behave like you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less. There is, indeed, one exception. If you do him a good turn, not to please God and obey the law of charity, but to show him what a fine forgiving chap you are, and to put him in your debt, and then sit down to wait for his “gratitude”, you will probably be disappointed. (People are not fools: they have a very quick eye for anything like showing off, or patronage.) But whenever we do good to another self, just because it is a self, made (like us) by God, and desiring its own happiness as we desire ours, we shall have learned to love it a little more or, at least, to dislike it less.
Lewis’ logic is to love another when you don’t feel like it, and as Jesus said, show your love by doing good, blessing, and praying.
Start small. When someone speaks harshly to you, respond with kindness instead of defensiveness. When someone wrongs you, choose to do good in return, perhaps by serving them in a simple, thoughtful way. And pray—pray for those who hurt you, asking God to soften their hearts and yours. It’s not easy. But each act of love, each word of blessing, each prayer lifts you above the offense and draws you closer to the heart of Jesus. You’ll find that as you choose to love, bless, and pray, God begins to change your heart, filling you with His peace and strength. Remember, loving your enemies isn’t about your strength but His love working through you. Loving someone undeserving is like watering a dry, barren field. The soil is hard, and the seeds seem hopeless, but you pour out kindness anyway. Over time, what seemed impossible began to sprout with life. Love softens the soil, and God brings growth where there once was none. Trust the Holy Spirit will bring relational life to your good deeds, blessings, and prayers!
Prayer
Lord, help me to love those who are hard to love. Give me Your grace to see them as You do, beyond their faults and flaws. Soften my heart, and fill me with patience and kindness. Teach me to love as You love, even when it feels impossible. Amen.
Application
Who needs your good deeds, blessings, and prayers? Start today and, by God’s grace, express to them one or all three of these gifts daily for 30 days.
Related Reading
Exodus 23:4-5; Proverbs 25:21-22; Luke 6:32-33; Romans 12:20-21
Worship Resource
We The Kingdom: Church Music
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