You Love Me Anyways

Love your enemies? People that hurt you? I don't think so.

Sometimes people are going to say something to you that hurts your feelings. I'm sure it has already happened before! And I know personally, my first reaction of choice would be to say something back to them that would hurt them. To treat them the way they treated me. It only seems fair, right?

I had something like that happen to me last week. To other people it might have seemed like it wasn't really a big deal, but it really hurt me. For a few days I was really really mad at this person. I didn't want to see them, to talk to them; I wanted to avoid them at all costs.

But something hit me the other day. Satan was using them to test my reaction. To see what I was going to do about it. He is just waiting for me to go tell all my friends about this. He knows what they said got under my skin. And I'm supposed to forget what they did and love them? At first, the thought was ridiculous in my mind. I thought that being mad at them would somehow change what happened. Make them feel bad. But it didn't... and it won't.

Then I got to thinking...we do the same thing to God every single day. We are like, "hey God, I know you really hate it when I lie to my parents, but... um... I just did it. again."

Romans 5:7-8

⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we were living in the filth of our sin, Christ gave His life for us. For me, for you, for that person, for the world. Every single sin I have committed was heaped upon His back when He carried that cross. In light of Jesus giving His life for me when I was cruel to Him, I think I can be nice to this girl. I think I can forgive her and love her.
If your dealing with someone who has hurt you and are struggling to forgive them, I know how you feel. It is really hard to let whatever they have done to you go. But God tells us that we have to love one another. No matter what they have done to you. Because, chances are, you have done something or said something mean to them too. But even if you haven't, you still have to forgive them! Let it go. Let God handle it. Because He will; and you will be reaping a reward in Heaven far greater than you can imagine because of that.

1 John 4:19-20

¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

(Sidewalk Prophets, You Love me Anyways)

"I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway"

Your Sister in Christ,

Jessica