Enemies

"Our battle is not against human forces but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers that govern this world." - Ephesians 6:12

We all have that person we hide from when we see them come down the hall or the person we can't stand because of some rivalry or words exchanged along the road, and even the one who only comes around when they need something without concern for when we need them. Instinctively, we want to ignore them and go on about how much we can't stand them, but you and I are called to a higher way of dealing with people, the way of Christ. There is something we need to understand: if God calls us to love one another for our own good and completion, yet there is someone we can't stand and are having serious issues with, then the devil is trying to take away a major good from us by causing conflict! If the devil knows that by meeting a certain person, great things will come your way, or if you could be a big blessing to that person, then he will do everything in his power to destroy that relationship. Things would be so different if in the Name of Jesus Christ you decided to pray and work past that animosity and discovered the good that could come out of that relationship. Now, don't get me wrong, there are people you can only pray for because they're not open minded enough to resolve issues, but if instead, you opened yourself up to not judging people by your first, second, or third impressions, and got to know them better, you could discover a divine connection God has put in your path, someone that will turn out to be a great friend or lead you to something better in your life.

Please understand that it's never the people themselves that are bad, but the situations they've been through. You never know what someone deals with at home or the struggles they had growing up. So many people carry around a number of wounds from their sins and the sins of their parents, and the devil uses these to cause conflict. The person, as annoying or rude as they seem, could be a blessing in your life if you would only approach them with the compassion Jesus would.

Today's Prayer:
Jesus, open the eyes of my heart so that I can love everyone as You do, even those who are rude and judgemental to me, and those who only come around when they need something. I want to treat everyone as You would because only You know what's in the heart of each person. In Your Name we pray, amen.