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.

What happens to your faith when the answer is no, the door stays closed, and life does not turn out the way you prayed?

Someone once said, “Faith is not about everything turning out okay. Faith is about being okay no matter how things turn out.”

Friend, real faith is not believing that every problem will disappear. It is trusting that God will remain faithful even when the outcome is different from what we hoped.

Habakkuk 3:17–18 says, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines… Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

Habakkuk’s joy was not determined by what he could see. His hope was anchored in the God he knew.

Maybe something in your life has not turned out okay. The relationship ended. The opportunity passed. The diagnosis came. The prayer was answered differently than you expected.

You may not understand what God is doing, but you can still trust who God is. He is faithful in the sunshine and in the storm. He is still good when life is hard. And even when everything around you feels uncertain, you are still secure in His hands.

Today, stop measuring God’s faithfulness by your circumstances. Trust His heart when you cannot trace His hand.

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And remember: Faith does not promise an easy outcome—it promises you will never face the outcome 

“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” -Luke 6:36 (KJV)

Friend, mercy is one of those things we are grateful to receive but sometimes reluctant to give. We want God to be patient with our failures, forgive our mistakes, and look beyond our worst moments. Yet when someone disappoints us, we can be quick to judge them by the very moment we hope God will forgive in us.

Jesus did not say to be merciful because people always deserve it. He said to be merciful because our heavenly Father is merciful.

Mercy does not mean pretending that wrong does not matter. It means refusing to allow someone else’s wrong to make your heart cold. Mercy leaves judgment in God’s hands and chooses compassion over condemnation.

Think about how many times the Lord has met you with grace instead of giving up on you. Every morning you awaken is evidence that His mercy is still at work. The cross is the greatest reminder of all. Jesus took what we deserved so we could receive what we could never earn.

Today, someone around you may need patience, a second chance, a kind word, or simply the benefit of the doubt. Give them what God has so freely given you.

Friend, merciful people show a hurting world what their merciful Father is like. Let us walk in mercy today, because we never look more like Jesus than when we extend grace to someone who needs it…