“21If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.” — Proverbs 25:21-22 (ESV)
I am to do the work of God and love. Love like Jesus. Love everyone. Love, love, love, love.
There have been and will be more times when I will find myself in the midst of those that are not exactly kind and loving to me, one might even call them enemies. In those times I have to remember that regardless of the actions of others, I have been tasked with bringing the gospel and love to all. I have to rise above that which is contrary to me and be as Christ and love.
I can recall on many occasions where I have been confronted by someone who believes and acts contrary to me. I have in return, not fought with them, not agreed with them, but simply listened and provided empathy for them as having been in situations of contrary thought before. In those times, they have backed off, knowing that they were not going to “win” in this encounter. They leave the situation frustrated and confused at the outcome, or lack thereof. What a turn of events. I loved them and worked to understand and they walked away. If we are looking at the “win/loss” column, I guess that I “won” although it was really more about them losing than I winning.
God rewards for the work done in His name. When I turn to love and away from evil, He rewards me with “victory”. In those situations where I simply showed love to someone else, I was rewarded with “victory” over the evil in the situation. I was not evil back, and it served me to walk away unscathed and with my head held high knowing that I was in line with the love of Christ. I was able to “heap burning coals on his head” and I was rewarded by God for simply following His example.
In my role of a corporate training professional, I teach that one does not have to accept the abuse of others, however that does not give us the right to attack others in the interest of defending ourselves. We are to hold to the love of Christ and provide for the opportunity of others to repent and accept the love we are bringing to them. For those actions, we are rewarded by God.
What situations have you found yourself in that you wish you would have presented love instead of fighting back? Were you the “winner” or “loser” in those situations? What if you were simply to provide love for the other person and accepted the reward of Christ for doing so?
Trevor's Thoughts 