A lot of us have had to deal with difficult people. Maybe you are dealing with someone like that today. Unreasonable people can be especially difficult. You know the kind. They would benefit from what you are asking but compliance for them means that you win and they lose. Everything for them is about staying ahead and keeping the upper hand. They can’t possibly cooperate because that would put you ahead and them behind. Then there are enemies. These are people who, for whatever reason, have decided to oppose you. They may spread lies about you. They may do what they can behind the scenes to undercut you. Whatever the reason they do what they do, they are people who are difficult to deal with.
Jesus Teaches us to Love our Enemies
Matthew 5:43-48 CEV You have heard people say, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.” (44) But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you.
Notice He said we are to pray for, not just pray about those who mistreat us. We are called to love the difficult people not just the lovable people. Don’t return evil for evil. It is all too easy to justify returning anger for anger or insult for insult. That is a natural response. Unfortunately, that kind of response doesn’t reflect God’s nature and is actually contradictory to scripture. We are told to love and bless our enemies and to pray for those who mistreat us. You might ask, “Who lives like that?” Well, according to Matthew 5, God does! He makes the sun rise on the good and the bad. It is time to start acting like our Heavenly Father.
Just in case you think that this is an isolated concept let me draw your attention to a related passage:
Romans 12:17-18 CEV Don’t mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, (18) and do your best to live at peace with everyone.
Apparently living at peace with others is important. In fact, Paul goes on to call doing otherwise evil. Romans 12:21 CEV Don’t let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.
No Exceptions
The principle applies to all of us. We are all to walk in forgiveness with one another. I don’t see any exclusions here. It doesn’t say that we have an out if people hurt us badly enough or if they lied about us, or any other reason. This applies to shepherd and sheep alike! Peterd and asked, “How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?” Jesus answered: Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!
This is driven home in the Lord’s prayer. Matthew 6:12 CEV Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. I think we need to forgive freely just like we’ve been forgiven. Jesus blood cleanses us from all sin – past, present and future. We need to stand prepared to forgive others. Let this be our default setting. This principle applies to all believers – leaders and followers alike. Let’s anticipate the fact that we are going to have opportunities to forgive others and plan on doing so ahead of time. I doing so, we will defeat evil with good.
