Who is Your Enemy?

Enemies.  Who are your enemies?  God says to be kind to our enemies.  Matthew 5:44 is a quote from Jesus in which he says, “But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!”  You may be thinking of a certain person at work or even a family member, some of you are thinking of an ‘ex’.  I had the privilege of hearing two takes on enemies recently.  One from an audio book by Joyce Meyer, the other I listened to at a recent Women of Faith conference, the dear Patsy Claremont.    Both takes have the same direction with a bit different skew.  Both are biblical, valid, and worthy of comment and absorption!

If you haven’t heard Patsy speak, you need to, what a lady!  She told us a story about when God reminded her she needed to be kind to her enemies.   Through a bit of verbal give and take with God, he made her understand that - at that moment – her husband was her enemy and she needed to be kind to him.  She needed to end the argument.  So she got him some coffee, then she got him the paper, and then drew him a bath… In this little process of God pushing and her grudgingly listening, both her and her husband let go of whatever the issue was and were no longer ‘enemies’.  I had never thought of it that way before.  Any one we are angry with at any given moment could be considered an ‘enemy’ that we are to be kind to.   And what happens when you are kind to an enemy?  At first they are untrusting and apprehensive – as Patsy so hilariously demonstrated when she mimicked her husband checking his coffee for alien objects or smells.  Then they are confused and befuddled.  Then they are feeling a bit better, then they are loving you right back.  I think this woman knows a thing or two about keeping a marriage or family together and the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit’s prompting!

Mrs. Meyer’s take on enemies is just as profound and leads to family harmony also.  The point was basically – don’t be mad at the person that Satan is using to throw you of track.  Satan uses us, and others, to hurt or insult people - to take their focus off of God and onto a negative train of thought – which just leads straight downhill!  Satan wants you to be caught up in drama – drama takes you away from God.   She wrote to remember who the real enemy is – it isn’t the person making you miserable – it is Satan using that person as a puppet to get you away from God.  Don’t let it work.  Forgive, forget, and love them.  And just as importantly, don’t let Satan use YOU against others!  Watch what you say, don’t become a puppet!  Fight against Satan, not each other.  Fighting each other is exactly what Satan wants.  I told my kids this evening that whenever they are having some petty little argument, Satan is dancing gleefully singing “ ha ha haha ha, I made them fight, I’m winning!  Ha ha haha ha!”  Do you think that Satan would be dancing if we reacted by praying for someone he used to hurt us rather than getting angry with them?  Big fat ‘NO’!  We aren’t in the business of pleasing Satan.  Drama and discord please Satan, harmony and love please God.  

I also want to bring up something that I tell my kids all the time.  It takes two people to have an argument.  If you want to stop an argument, all you have to do is stop talking…