1 Peter 3:3-4

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. - 1 Peter 3:3,4

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Living with and Loving Fr-enemies


Hey everyone! I have some friends in my life that are difficult to get along with, and people who I see on a regular basis that are always trying to pull me down, bully me about my beliefs, and make me angry. I have friends who live in homes that are not homes to them, but houses and people they want to just get away from. We all have people in our lives that we arent going to get a long with, now and in the future, so I thought lets have a look at some bible verses of how God teaches us to live with our fr-enemies.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. - Ephesians 4:2 NIV
 
One of our biggest commandments is to love. It doesnt matter who, what, when, where; we are called to love. Love our friends, love our enemies. Why? Because Jesus loves us, and He loved us when we were still His enemies.

I like how the above verse puts it. 'Bearing with one another in love'; it shows me that love is hard. It is really hard and unnatural to love someone who doesnt love you back. It is completly against our hearts to love someone who is mean and hurtful. So how on earth can you love someone like that?

The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above. - Proverbs 14:14 NKJV

Its from God that we get the ability to love the unloving! Before we can love others we need to center ourselves on Christ, on His love, and we need to be satisified from Him. Do you see? If we are completly satisified with Gods love, we dont need anyone elses love. His love is enough. And if we dont need their love, they cant hurt us when they dont love you back!

I was having a particularly hard time with someone I knew who wasnt a Christian. I wanted to help Him find God, but this guy was forever shutting me down with how Christianity cannot be proved, and it really hurt. He never listened and was always trying to take my faith away from me. Why couldnt he at least respect what I believed? Couldnt he see that he was hurting me? I found that when I spent more time with God, espcially reading the bible, I could love this guy even when he was saying such things. When I spent more time with God, I was grounded in Gods love, and I knew that God would be with me, and it was a lot easier to choose to love this guy.

So... we need be satisified in Gods love so that we can love and care for our fr-enemies.

Here are some more verses on how to love others...


Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. - Ephesians 4: 2 NLT

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven,
but dwelling on it separates close friends. - Proverbs 12:9

Hatred stirs up conflict,
but love covers over all wrongs. - Proverbs 10:12


Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. - Proverbs 12:19


Those who control their tongue will have a long life;
opening your mouth can ruin everything. - Proverbs 13:3


Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor;
only fools insist on quarreling. - Proverbs 20:3


Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; - Proverbs 24:17


~ Meggie

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