"bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." Luke 6:28 ESV
Oh boy! For most of us, this is probably the hardest scripture to follow. It is contrary to our very human nature. Our baser instinct is to become angry, resentful, and maybe even hateful, jumping immediately to that dark place in our souls. At our human best, after initial resentment, we may somewhat grudgingly come to forgiveness. But to go to the next step of blessing those who wrong us and pray for those who are harmful to us, that isn't humanly possible. God is the only source that can help us overcome our natural inclinations, responding with blessings instead of our curses and prayer in place of revenge.
In this current day, we have many things that would be easy to curse. We may feel personally insulted, challenged, and fearful of changes. Our human instinct is to fall back on our preconceived ideas and biases. In these situations, we need to do two things; pray for God’s guidance and listen for His response, pray for those with whom we disagree.
God, we give thanks for your forgiveness and your love for us despite our many shortcomings. Please help us to overcome our human instincts of responding with our baser urges, but instead show love and kindness. Help us to demonstrate righteousness, blessing those who curse us and pray for those who hurt us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Blessings!
Pastor Tim
