
Have you been hurt and wounded badly by someone you trusted and esteemed? A loved one? A boss? I have. We were invited to what Gayle and I thought would be a friendly lunch. At the end of the meal, the man said that my work position was being severed due to my health prognosis, even though my health issues weren’t affecting my work attendance or performance. I felt like my heart had been ripped out, thrown to the ground and repeatedly stomped and crushed to a bloody pulp. I was devastated.
I thought I had forgiven this person (Matthew 18:21-35), but every time I saw him the video in my mind replayed and my mouth recounted that “massacre scene” to my hubby Gayle. We’d pray, but the gaping wound never healed. One day I fervently cried out, “Help me, Lord.”
Then the Lord spoke through Luke 6:27-28, “…I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
“How? Lord, how do I love my enemy and do good to that man? Show me someone in the Bible other than Jesus so I can see an everyday example of what to do.”
A few days later during my quiet time, I was reading the passage in Acts 7 about Stephen being stoned and his reaction to his assailants (his enemies). While he was stoned, Stephen, “cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:60) There it was. Stephen showed love by praying “for” his enemies (Luke 6:27), not “against” them. He kept his focus on the Lord. As believers, when negative thoughts roll in, we’re to take all thoughts captive and bring them into obedience to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5)
“So, yes, Lord, I’ll take every thought captive and do good according to Luke 6:27 by praying FOR that man. Now I can say without any pain or negative thoughts and really mean it, “Lord, bless him exceedingly, abundantly above all he can ask or imagine.”
I’ve seen him since. No pain. No hurting wound. No negative thoughts. Praises to my Precious Lord! I'm free!
Myrna Brogdon
Los Fresnos, Texas
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