Day 225: Unpacking Romans 12- Bless Those Who Curse You

Romans 12:14

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.

Proverbs 15:1

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

One thing I’ve grown up being old is, “Kill them with kindness.” Meaning don’t treat people the same way they treat you. Don’t be mean just because they are being mean to you, the best thing you can do is kill them with kindness. Now I’m sure many of us have gotten to a point when we say, there’s only so much kindness to give, and eventually you’ll want to get back at them, whoever “them” is. You get tired of people being rude or disrespectful and want to tell them what’s on your mind.  Sometimes it’s hard not to say anything or do anything back to the people who intentionally try to hurt you or stir you up, especially when they know the exact buttons to push. But boy is it so rewarding. It’s so rewarding and a bit funny to see the reaction you will get when you refuse to get angry with someone.

One of the lessons I’ve learned is to just laugh it off. I am very sarcastic and I know it can be annoying to people who try to get to me. But I’ve learned that two angry people can get nowhere. It just turns into a screaming match, of who can scream the loudest and who can get the last word. I can get angry and stirred up, but when alls said and done, what will I have accomplished? Nothing. The best thing to do is diffuse the fire before it gets out of hand. I believe that this is the lesson here. God is telling us to turn the other cheek. He’s telling us not to get riled up and angry, but instead pray that He will bless the people who are out to get you. Pray the best for them. They are God’s children as well, that is very important to remember. We can take an example from Jesus, as with everything in life. Jesus was persecuted in the worst way, He was beat and spit on. He was talked about, but He responded with love. Even as the people were nailing Him to the cross He said “father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He knew that there was a bigger picture. He could have been angry at them, but instead He chose to forgive them, instead He chose to love them. When we think about it, it’s truly a beautiful image. To set yourself aside for the very person that is harming you and bringing you a world of pain.

My mom would always tell us growing up, “hurt people, Hurt people.” Meaning people who are hurt, do not want to hurt alone. You never really know why someone is treating you the way they are. Sometimes people act out because they themselves are hurting and they want someone to either feel the pain they feel or feel something worse. It’s a messed up disposition but it’s real. So many times I think that when we are called to turn the other cheek, or bless those who curse us, it is just as much for them as it is for us. While our faith might be being tested someone is being healed. It’s much deeper than just getting the last laugh or proving that you are mature.

All this to say, love everyone, even the ones that are hard to love. Bless the people that constantly curse you. In the end you will be proud of yourself for not engaging and you give the other person a chance to inspect themselves.

Reflection

1. Have you ever been in the position where you had to walk away from someone who was angry with you?
2. How are was it?
3. Can you see the bigger picture in blessing the people who curse you and giving a soft answer?
4. What is it?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask God to help you learn to pray for those who curse you and help you hold your tongue. Pray for self-control. Whatever is on your heart today, talk to God about it.

I love you, and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 226!

Day 64: Respond with Love (Dealing with People)

One thing we can all agree on is that there are some people, who are hard to deal with. There are people that we would rather not be around. We all know someone who is just mean, and mad at the world. Maybe we were that person. But sometimes dealing with people and their attitudes is exhausting. Especially when you try to do it the way Jesus would, then it just gets hard.

Proverbs 29:11

Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away rage, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Luke 6:27 

But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.

As we grow older we go through a point of being hot-headed, hard headed, and very short tempered. We have all been in a position where we have either flipped out on someone or had to bite our lips and tongue not to. As we grow in Christ we will start to learn how to control our tongue but also how to respond to people who are mean and just hard to deal with. We all have that one thing that set us off. There’s a lot we can overlook and avoid but there’s that one button that if pressed will take from zero to a hundred in a matter of seconds. But what if we could control even that. as we grow in Christ even our biggest triggers become things that we can brush off because it’s not worth the energy.

The best thing we can do is respond with love. I know it sounds crazy and it is so hard to do, and we may fail many times before we master it. Anyone who knew me when I was eighteen compared to now can testify to this statement. We have to learn how to bite our tongue and give a soft answer. Sometimes we will constantly be provoked by others, who want to see us get angry. I’d like to point out that being angry is not a sin. It is what we do with that anger that can lead us to sin. Ephesians 4:26 says, Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, I’m not telling you that you can’t be angry but don’t act on it. Be angry but do not allow that angry to let you fall into to sin, and don’t let it turn into a grudge. Nothing good comes from acting on anger.

Exodus 14:14

God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!”

Psalms 141:3

Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips.

Our biggest defense against others is out mouth, some of us are very keen with the comebacks. If you are like me you are very sarcastic and your mouth is very smart. I had to learn how to shut my mouth sometimes, because I used my bluntness as an excuse to be rude and disrespectful. I also used my smart mouth as a defense mechanism. I had to get past my own pride of feeling like less of a person or even a woman, if I didn’t attack my attacker and win. I always had to come back harder when someone came at me, to prove that i wasn’t to be played with. That was the pride in me.

-Dyamond

But when dealing with others we must be able to look past our anger and see that they have a heart just as we do. They can hurt the same way we do. We do not inflict pain on someone because we can or because we want to, even though they might do it to us, just to get them back. We have to respond with love, even to the most  grotesque things that comes our way. We have to let God handle the battle, as only He can. Now this does not mean that we allow people to treat us any kind of way, it is okay to defend ourselves. As the men did in the book of nehemiah when they were building the wall. Nehemiah 4:18, And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

One of the best examples I can think of at the moment is when the men came to capture Jesus and Peter cut off one of their ears. Peter responded with violence, Jesus responded with love.

Luke 22:48-51

48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant[h] of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

Now this is the part of the bible where Jesus is betrayed by judas and was arrested to face the death penalty . This is where the disciples became our friend group. We all have those group of friends that we have been through everything with and we will fight for if we had to. When one of us is in danger we’re all coming to their defense. Then there’s always one specific person in the group who just reacts. This is how it was that night was ,the disciples were ready to go to war for Jesus. They saw what was happening and they all looked at Jesus like do we need to start cutting people, do we need to pull out these swords? Before Jesus could answer Peter pulled out his sword and cut off someone’s ear.

It was at this very moment that Jesus showed us what it meant to respond with love. He yelled for Peter to stop, and then went over to the man, who was preparing to kill Him, and healed him. That’s love, mind you, this man was here to carry out the plan of killing Jesus. Throughout His crucifixion Jesus showed us what a soft answer or no answer at all looks like. People walked up to Him, spat on Him, punched Him, slapped Him, and He never responded with anger or hate, always love. And in the end God was glorified.

Sometimes it’s not worth the time to get back at someone, or get angry, many times the best thing we can do is respond with love. Return rage with kindness. I know it’s hard, but it isn’t impossible.

Reflection

1. Are you easily angered or hot tempered?
2. How much of a struggle is it for you to respond with love?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Take in everything that was talked about today, and talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you control your tongue, and teach you how to respond with love. If you have easily angered talk to God about controlling your anger. Pray for those who are hard to deal with, pray for your enemies, and pray for yourself.

I love you! I hope you have an amazing weekend. Make sure you share this with someone and be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 65!