What if the greatest test of your faith is not how you love those who love you, but how you respond to the person who hurt you?

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” -Matthew 5:44 (KJV)

It’s easy to love people who love us. It’s easy to be kind to people who are kind to us. But Jesus calls us to something greater.

He says, “Love your enemies.”

Now, Jesus isn’t saying that what they did was right. He isn’t telling you to pretend you weren’t hurt or to keep putting yourself in a position to be mistreated.

He is telling you not to allow what somebody else did to determine who you become.

You may not be able to change their heart, but you can guard yours.

When somebody hurts you, the natural response is to hurt them back. When somebody talks about you, you want to defend yourself. When somebody treats you unfairly, you want them to experience a little of what they gave you.

But Jesus says, “Pray for them.”

That’s hard.

But something happens when you begin praying for the people who have hurt you. God may not immediately change them, but He begins doing something powerful inside of you.

Bitterness begins to loosen its grip. Anger begins to lose its power. And instead of carrying the weight of what they did, you place them—and the situation—in God’s hands.

Friend, don’t let somebody else’s bitterness make you bitter.

Don’t let their hate steal your love.

Don’t let what they did change who God is calling you to be.

Love them. Bless them. Pray for them. And keep walking with Jesus.

Because sometimes the greatest evidence that Christ is changing our lives is not how we treat our friends.

It’s how we treat the people who haven’t treated us like one. 

If this encouragement helped you, follow or subscribe and join me each day for another encouraging word from God’s Word. And remember: Don’t let the way someone treated you change the person God is calling you to be.