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bigmike

Matthew 5:43-44 (NKJV) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 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...
Honestly, when I became a believer, this verse was hard for me.
I was raised in a home where we went to Sunday School and church services.
Sometimes there would be revival meetings. And there were VBS camps in the summertime that Mom and Dad would have us attend. Many times they would be held at our home, in our yard, etc.
But as I was growing up, these verses were definitely opposite what I was used to.
When I would hear these verses in church I'd think, "why should we have to be good to those who aren’t good to us or to others?"
When I was a child growing up, we didn’t let people get away with mistreating us. We dealt with them. It was in our blood, so to speak.
I had 6 brothers who were strong fighters, and no one messed with us.
They trained me up to take care of myself, and we just didn't let people get away with mistreating, abusing or speaking down to us or any of our friends.
We didn't go looking for it, but if we needed to protect, we would.
But as I grew in Christ, the Holy Spirit began to move in and through me more freely. That’s when I would get convicted at times, feeling awful if I reacted in this way toward someone that had done me wrong.
Soon I learned that it was not God's way for me to think that I had the right to get people back for what they had done.
This is not how I was trained to think. I had to be re-taught.
I needed to let the Holy Spirit guide me and retrain me in this area.
The Holy Spirit is our Helper, and boy do we need Him at times to take those reigns and teach us right from wrong.
John 14:26 (NKJV) 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Our natural reactions toward a situation may not be exactly what He would like them to be.
Let Him help us.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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