Forgive Your Enemies

by Bill Krause

As we go through life, opportunities to grow are created by people who are in our life.  I have often said that if growing up was easy everybody would be doing it.

One of the things that will either grow us up quickly or destroy our lives is our enemies.  From time to time people will pop into our lives that are against our best interest.  They will do what they can, when they can to hinder or destroy your life.  They have no moral conscience and even believe they are helping by speaking and working against others.  They are not sane or rational in their thinking which enables them to continue. 

We do not have the ability or power in the natural to dissuade our enemies.   They do not listen to reason nor are they willing to work it out.   Their purpose and plan is to rob, kill and destroy in the name of helping or informing others.

If we do not forgive our enemies we will become like them.  The truth of life is that we become like what we keep on our mind. When we keep rehearsing and nursing what our enemies are doing to us and saying about us, we begin to ponder, think, evaluate and rehearse what our enemies have done and it becomes a major part of our thought process.

We need to follow the words of Jesus who tells us to love our enemies.  If we love them we will be patient, kind and understanding toward them and their words and their actions will not destroy us. By loving them we will not come to hate them and end up acting like them.

Next we need to bless those who curse us.  This word “bless” means to speak well of, to thank or invoke a benediction upon.  If we do not speak well about them there is a possibility to speak against them.  We do not want to become like our enemies and speak judgment about others. They expend their life and energy destroying others -- not building them up.  Remember any good things that they did do for you and think on those things. Talk about their good qualities, if you are going to talk about them at all.  One of my mentors was told once “Why, you are so overly disciplined in not talking badly about others that you could probably find something good to say about the devil.”  His response was, “Well, the devil is a persistent cuss.”  We need to come to a place of ensuring (training, disciplining, committing, establishing) ourselves to speak well of others, even our enemies.

The last of the big trio for our enemies is to pray for those who despitefully use you.  The word pray means to talk to God.  Only God can help them open their eyes and set them free.  Recognize God as their true hope of help and ask Him to forgive them and help them.  The word “despitefully” use means those that threaten, insult, and slander you.  Again, talk to God about them so you do not judge them and become like them.

Do not allow your enemies to gain victory over you.  Keep going, succeed in life and continue the biblical process of bless, do good and pray. Forgive Your Enemies!