How to embrace your enemies!

1. Pray for them: The Word of God is extremely specific when it comes to handling people that exhibit hatred towards you. In Matthew 5:44 it states “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Breaking down this verse of scripture we see that the Lord is very explicit about loving and praying for your enemies. Why is that so significant? When you pray for people that are filled with animosity it allows you to change the atmosphere. You want to war against those adverse spirits that are provoking them to make you angry and annoyed which will prevent it from escalating causing you to say or do something that you will later regret.

When you utilize prayer to target the person that is causing chaos in your life you will begin to see their attitude towards you change, their hate will subside, and those negative feelings against you will shift. There is Power in prayer and when you come from a place of genuineness you can absolutely transform environments around you. Another thing to consider is when that person’s demeanor alters; it will keep you from harboring emotions like resentment, anger, and bitterness which is exactly what the enemy wants.

2. Don’t take it personal: The fact of the matter is every one of us is going through something that we struggle with that nobody knows about. Most of the time when a person has built up hatred it is the result of an unfavorable situation going on in their lives that is causing them to suppress those negative feelings. So when someone comes at you in a hostile manner it is stemming from those battles they are facing within. Try not to take it personally and approach them with compassion and empathy to the best of your ability. Make every attempt to understand others as you would want them to understand you. The bottom line is you really don’t know what it looks like to walk in that person’s shoes and they are wrestling things that you have no idea about. The best way to manage difficult circumstances is with love. Mark 12:31 reads “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” God has made it abundantly clear how he feels about the way we are to treat others even when it is challenging.  

3. Remember that you are a witness for Christ: Most of us have dealt with instances where someone tests you to such an extreme that you almost let yourself revert back to the old you. The problem is that if you call yourself a Christian and act out of character you can damage your witness. You are going to be looked at through a microscope by others that are just waiting to see how you react to problematic scenarios. So what we have to do as believers is try as hard as we can to represent the Lord Jesus Christ to the best of our ability. There are so many people around us that don’t know the Lord and don’t have a relationship with Christ so you might be the only demonstration of Jesus that they will ever get. So if you start acting a fool over a situation that you could have just prayed about you risk the chance of compromising your witness for Christ. 

We all make mistakes and we are all human but we have to attempt to tame our tongues and avoid submitting to the enemy’s characteristics. We are put in places to be the salt and a light to those around us, Matthew 5:13-16. The enemy wants to dim our light and that is why it is imperative that we maintain our composure to prevent that from happening. If you feel like you are surrounded by people that are throwing shade, being disrespectful, and are just plain offensive; distance yourself from them. You can pray for them from afar and be specific with your directed prayers. You will be amazed at how much their attitudes shift when you target them in prayer. Always remember, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, Ephesians 6:12.