Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. But I say unto you which hear, love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise (Luke 6:26-31)
If you only help those who have helped you or treated you right then you are at the same level as sinners or unbelievers. The above scripture is all about the way we treat people that do not treat us right. The scripture says to be good to them, lend hoping for nothing in return and your reward shall be great for you are children of the Highest One. For God is kind to the unthankful and the evil, therefore be merciful as your father is merciful, judge not, condemn not. Jesus concluded this teaching by saying those who hear and follow this teaching is like a man who builds his house upon a rock. This means and shows that your foundation is solid in Christ. For God causes the rain to fall upon the holy and the unholy, the grateful and the ungrateful, the thankful and the evil. If you do not want your ‘rain’ to fall upon the ungrateful, then that ‘rain’ too will not fall on anybody including you. This attitude is what is keeping back rain from some people’s lives. Just like in the life of Joseph, even after his brothers betrayed him, he still had to help them. No matter the position of growth or power you find yourself, the people that have hurt you or caused you pain should also gain from that position.
We have an advantage in Christ in overcoming such issues and it is founded in true worship. The program of God for our life is bigger than the sure fact of God being on our side because He will never leave or forsake His own. Rather we need to get into the place of worship, by walking in love and surrendering every form of resentment in our heart to Him in worship. We must get to the place of peace in our hearts before we act on our emotions because the mastery over our hearts is more powerful than the actual action for mastery of this is where the real victory occurs. For instance, if you are not moving forward in your office and everyone else is getting promoted do not be bitter about the situation or get angry at your boss. Your anger only shows the smallness of your soul and it is called pettiness. All the disappointment or difficulty you are faced with are all part of the exercise that increases your capacity as a believer to go through any situation and come out victorious. Therefore, as you go through those hard times; stay in the place of worship and relinquish your right to hurt anyone who has done you any form of wrong. You need to understand that worship is not just in the songs but the act of surrendering and that is what makes it so powerful.
No matter how anyone might have wronged you always act according to how Jesus would want you to. The scripture says, ‘Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good’ (Romans 12vs 19-21). The phrase, ‘coals of fire’ in the scripture do not mean burning the person’s conscience, rather it means by such actions of kindness to an adversary you are removing the consequence of their sin from their life. Thus, the way you act is the starting point and that is where you really surrender your will to God. That place of pain is the place of worship for you, where God breaks you and you let Him take the lead. Therefore, if there is any form of conflict that is going on in your life at this particular point in time, take that high road, with that person, go to Jesus Christ and worship Him concerning the situation. When they took away the wealth of Isaac he did nothing about it and for that reason God blessed him and the same people that did him wrong came back to him. This means that you may even have reasons to do things with the same people that hurt you now in the nearest future. All you need to know is that when God avenges a matter, you will find peace in your heart and the blessing once thought missed will be multiplied in ways you never imagined.
‘Poju Oyemade