Pray for Your Enemies

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Offer your enemy a serving of joy in the Lord.

            When we hear the word “enemy” our thoughts go to those who have hurt us or betrayed us in some way. The Cambridge English Dictionary gives this definition:  

“A person who hates or opposes another person and tries to harm that person.”

            It’s a fact of life that sooner or later, we will experience the unwelcome reality that we all have enemies. Jesus had to tell his disciples…and us…to love our enemies. (Matthew 5:43-44). How is that possible? 

        In an online article by Richard A. Kaufman, he says that: “Humans often respond to enemies in two ways: we either fight back or flee. Both are natural responses—our instinct is self-preservation. When we flee from our enemies, we can still carry them inside us. When we fight back, we take on the character of our enemies. If we strike back at our enemies, we might set off a downward spiral of attack and counterattack that quickly gets out of control.” 

            So how do we react to our enemies in the best kind of way…the Christian way? Pray and seek God in how to respond in love.

            Pray for and about your enemies.  Allowing God to handle them will release us to enjoy life more abundantly.