Doing Good to Your Enemies |
God's View:
Matt. 5:40-42
; Eph. 4:29
-Loving your enemy means feeding your enemy what
he desperately needs, In many cases, bold love will unnerve, offend, hurt,
disturb, and compel the one who is loved to deal with the issue that is robbing
him and others of joy. Our job is to continually learn and relearn what it
means to offer what the other person needs. What does all humans need-love
and honor. Thus, the emphasis is to increase a desire for love and honor,
and to decrease the penchant to pursue false paths to satisfaction.
Hope:
2 Cor. 7:8-16
; Rom. 12:27
-Kindness is the gift of thoughtfulness,
looking for ways to serve others in compassion. Tenderness is a response
of mercy that can see through the sin to the parts of the human heart, a
heart that was designed for more . Strength involves a willingness to bleed
in the midst of unpleasant, undesired conflicts. Strength is needed to expose
violations of relationship, and does not fear the loss of relationship. We
are to feed our enemy because we love beauty and hate arrogance.
Matt. 26:17-35 ; Jn. 21:15-19 ; Matt. 27:3-5 -Goodness exposes the nakedness and hunger of the enemy, shames the enemy, and then offers the opportunity for restoration. Evil cannot bear the intrusion of goodness. What unnerves evil more than any one thing is someone who is not controlled by shame and yet is not shameless.
Lu. 6:27-31 -Need to pray for wisdom to learn how to apply truth to different situations and people we encounter. How should I use my tongue? What should my attitude be toward the person? How am I to deal with fools?
Walk with God and discuss with Him how to respond in varied situations, rehearse some scenes, ponder out loud with God what might be going on in the heart of the person, review your behaviour and responses. Accordingly, wisdom is defined as skillful kindness and strength, tempered with shrewdness, armed wtih courage, clear about the calling and hungry to see arrogance destroyed and beauty enhanced. To bless one, words are to be used to arouse legitimate longing, expose emptiness, and deflects the enemy's attempts to shame or in-timidate. Blessing should be designed to open the heart of the enemy to astonishment and curiosity.
Change:
Matt. 5:40-46
-Walk a mile, turn other cheek, involves shrewd
sacrifice for it is giving that which is designed for an enemy not a friend.
The enemy expects that his intimidation and shaming will get him what he
wants because it gives him a sense of control and fantasy of being like God.
To respond to kindness and generosity causes the enemy to stumble because
the act bears a redemptive bite. Shrewd sacrifice is a gift of grace that
exposes hatred and rage, and invites the enemy to wrestle with his sin. Good
words and deeds are the elixir of life, the antidote against death (Prov.
1:22). There are 3 kinds of enemies in our lives:evil people, fools, and
simpletons (normal sinners).
Heb. 10:24
-Goodness involves a desire to see someone or something grow in
strength, freedom and beauty. An arrogant heart is hardened by its own sin
and blinds the hearts of those it controls. Mockery is the language of accusation
and it is the weapon that evil uses powerfully to strip the victim of a sense
of self and life. Evil steals faith, hope, and love for it disseminates
disin-formation, pinning the blame on the victim, robbing the person of the
adventure found in faith. It creates bondages, a form of slavery, it dulls
the senses, and steals from the soul a vision of what could be.