Prayback Not Payback! ; )

I've been learning a lot lately and I get the feeling I'm going to have to learn even harder things in the near future. The toughest thing for me to do right now is to have self control. Lately I've been tempted to react in a non-Christ-like way. But hey... I'm hanging in there! : )

But because of this I've been thinking about a lot. How DO we react to people who purposely try to push our buttons? My frustration is not being to do anything when someone else says harsh things either to me or about me. I can tell you that in the past I've handled it the way that I wanted to... and let me just say that it never worked out.

I have come to a conclusion that being a Christ-like, loving human being is the best "comeback" we can have as a Christian. What breaks people? Love brings down walls- hate drives people over the edge and provoke's them to do unreasonable things. Every time we act in a cruel or abusive way it changes us a little in a negative way. It only feeds our self-loving fire making it easier to do just a little more damage every time we are faced with a situation. So if we care even in the slightest about who we are as a human being, we would think twice before acting out in hate or frustration next time. But if we care even in the slightest about who we are as a Christian... ha... we should be doing even better than that. We should take it from a level of "not acting out in hate" and bring it up to "acting out in love". Which brings it around to this Scripture...

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles."

~Matthew 5:38-41

 

NOW WITH ALL THIS SAID... I know it's not easy. I can't count how many times I've messed up. After getting in the habit of doing what I wanted to do, it was hard for me to react in a Christian way the last time I was faced with a situation. But I held my tongue even if it brought me suffering... In fact, I've been biting my tongue for six months now so I'm pretty sure my tongue is bleeding by now. I've been begging God for justice. But on Tuesday I realized that the only thing I CAN do is be a Christian in the way I know how. If I can't act in love then I should at least be praying. So I started praying this week... lol... and no... I still don't feel any better... but I realized being a Christian isn't about how we "feel", it's about how we ACT. And when we pray, we have victory. 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

~Matthew 5:43-44

So my goal is to pray until something happens. : )

 

But anyway... have more but apparently 2:45 in the morning is a difficult time for me to think!