Love Your Haters? Umm...

Among other radical things, Jesus commanded us is to love our haters. It's not a suggestion. Now, try to get a mental picture of your haters and all the times they pissed you off. Or the troubles you went through because of them--like if your boss, for some strange reason, hates you and takes special note of all your little mistakes and makes a big deal of them.

Photo above by Sydney Sims on Unsplash.

And it's not enough just saying you love your haters because Jesus didn't stop there. He said, "Do good to those who hate you." You actually have to do something to make them feel loved, like buying them ice cream, for instance? I'm not kidding. Jesus said DO GOOD. And he's never just exaggerating things to make a point. Jesus always means what he says.

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Well, don't get me wrong. It's okay to be pissed off by your haters once in a while. Even God was pissed off several times by his chosen people, Israel, in the bible. He punished them and sent them into exile--the whole nation of them. Imagine that. But, believe it or not, that was his love for them. I mean, he did that for their own good--and for the sake of His Name. 

Did he DO GOOD to them that hated him (the Israelites rebelled against him a lot)? You bet. He still rescued them over and over up the end and finally drove out all their enemies from their land so they could claim their inheritance, a land flowing  with milk and honey. During that time, it was their version of being treated to special ice cream. See? God actually gave them a treat in the end--milk and honey. 

If you lose your temper over haters and detractors and the likes, don't feel so bad. You got company with a lot of God's servants in the bible. Moses violently threw the stone tablets (after God wrote his commands on them with HIS own finger) when he lost his temper over Israel's idolatry, led no less by his brother, Aaron. David had an Amalekite messenger struck down for admitting killing King Saul (though it was a false claim). Prophet Samuel also struck down Agag, king of the Amalekites, after Saul spared his life though God wanted Agag killed.

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And you've heard, of course, how Elijah sent fire from heaven to consume several captains and their men, and how Elisha cursed teenage boys who meant harm so that two bears suddenly appeared and killed them. What a way to be pissed off.

At least, when you're pissed off by people, you haven't done anything these men of God had done in the Old Testament. You're tamer and more patient. I mean, you haven't called down fire from heaven, have you? So you're still below average compared to them.

Have you seen how Jesus was pissed off by his detractors? He didn't kill anyone but he certainly said fiery, insulting words against them. 

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves."

Wait. There's more.

"You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?"

 And yet, Jesus told his followers to love their enemies and do good to them. Did he treat them to an expensive Mediterranean restaurant or anything like that? Did he produce and serve them the best wine of all? He didn't. So what good did he do to them? Because that was his teaching--do good to them. Well, while in great pain and nailed to a cross and accused unfairly by these religious leaders, Jesus asked the Father to "forgive them for they do not know what they're doing." 

That's doing good to those who hate you. He didn't just say, "Okay guys, I really love you!" He bled and died for them, and asked God to bless them with forgiveness. 

So, here's the point. Loving your haters doesn't mean you never get pissed off with them. You may (though it's not a privilege, really). But the important thing is to:

1. Forgive them.

2. Do good to them.

You may treat them to a buffet lunch if you feel like it, but the more important thing is to sacrifice your ego and ask God to forgive them. And at least like their posts on FB. Does this mean God will indeed forgive them? Nope, not necessarily. They will have to go through the process--feel remorse and repent. If not, then God won't forgive them. So why ask at all? Because God is after the condition of your heart. He wants you surrendered at all times.

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Then receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord, then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do, but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

Why Trials are God's Love for You

 

At first it's hard to see how a bad situation in life is actually God's loves for you. Doesn't make sense. We'd do everything to help people we love once we see them in trouble. Right? Then why is it that God doesn't seem to be doing anything? We often think troubles or problems are blockages or unfortunate mishaps or bad luck or punishment for wrong doing. Well, most times it's a result of what we did, and sometimes, too, it's some form of punishment (says 1 Thessalonians 1.8). But often it's how God loves us. God sees things so differently. 

Photo above by bruce mars on Unsplash.

Jesus said the Father won't give us snakes if we ask him for fish, or scorpions if we ask for eggs. But often, we beg him for snakes and scorpions without realizing it. For some reason, we're head over heels for them and in our blind desperation we see them as fish and eggs. So when God refuses to give in, we think we're being punished. "What wrong did I do to deserve this refusal from God" we wonder.

Actually, God is only keeping us safe from the snakes and scorpions we're trying to ask from him. We can't see them as thus because we are still slaves to the world's systems and perception of things. We're still carnal, not knowing that his love spares us from the world's deception. Keep this in mind--a lot of times (not always), if we can't see as God sees, we're still worldly.

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Job thought he was being punished unfairly. But actually, God was so fond of him that HE picked him among so many on earth as one of a kind believer. And HE bragged about him to Satan--to the extent of challenging the enemy to try Job in an extreme way. That's GOD's love. See? Do you want God to love you? Then we must start to understand how HE loves. 

He also loved Jesus, His Son, so much. So Jesus was crucified and felt abandoned by the Father that he cried out, "Why has Thou forsaken me?" But actually, the Father had declared once how Jesus was his, "beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." See that word "beloved"?

It's something like what James' and John's mom wanted for her sons--to be seated on the right and left hand of Jesus in his Kingdom. Jesus said (and I could see him chuckle at the idea), "You do not know what you're asking." Often, we think we know what we want but we don't. We want God to love us in a special way but we're not ready for it. And God sees all that. He sees the end of all things right from the beginning. 

And he spares us from added sorrows by not granting our request. Instead, he gives us something much better. He never says no but his yes are often misread. We think of it as a no or a rejection or a forfeiture. Sometimes, his yes is even taken as punishment. But remember, true believers always get a yes to their prayers because, "no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ," [2 Corinthians 1.20].

Because he loves us. This is why "stalking" behind Jesus (my way of saying getting too up-close to Him) is urgent. You've got to see Jesus doing his thing right before your very eyes.

At first, it's hard to comprehend how the thing God gives us is "much better" than what we're asking for--especially when what we're given doesn't look promising one bit. And it usually isn't. But in time we will, if we trust him. God will open our eyes to see truth at its barest if he sees our hearts are pure and ready to see it. 

It's okay to be prone to shortcuts and escapism and ask God to just spare us the trouble. It's human nature. It even manifested in Jesus. He himself somewhat had the same experience while agonizing in Gethsemane. He asked the Father to cancel (or let pass) his suffering or crucifixion, if it were at all possible. It was human agony, the human side of Jesus getting the harrowing thought. But the cross went through, anyway. And Jesus had the spiritual eyes to see truth.

Was the Father punishing him? Nope, though it looked that way to people. It was because the Father loved him so much.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. [John 10.17]

Well, in a broader sense, the Father punished sin when Jesus suffered the cross because Jesus, who was sinless, "was made sin"  for us [2 Corinthians 5.21]. But that's for another topic to discuss. Right now, you have to understand that most dire situations we're in is actually God's rescue, keeping us safe from worse things, because he loves us. So we have to thank God for everything, even for things we don't have any inkling about. And then ask God to guide you through the ordeal. "God, what's this all about?"

Because we need to be guided in all things.

Once upon a time, I couldn't understand why I had this strange illness that kept me in bed. All medical tests were normal and yet one slight move made me weak and dizzy and breathless. So I was confined to bed in my room for months without understanding why--and I was asking God really serious questions about it--about my life, actually. WHY?

Later, while deep in my dramatic moments, I suddenly turned my sights to my bookshelf and saw the title of a book: "The Jesus I Never Knew." Then I remembered how the Lord had been urging me a long time to read the book again--a second time--because I had the impression that he wanted to point out something there, but I was so busy with other things I thought meant more to me and made me productive in life. 

So, feeling so sick and confined to bed, I realized I had more than enough time to spend reading it. God actually arranged everything to get rid of the "snakes and scorpions" I had been pouring time on (and thought made me productive) so I could spend quality time on what was really "fish and eggs." See?

Still cannot get what this is all about? Don't worry, a lot of people also didn't get it even when they heard it straight from Jesus. Even his disciples at times didn't. To get enlightened, you need to have Jesus first in your life, ruling it. When Jesus is in your life, so is his Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will give you enlightenment. Surrender your life to Jesus first.

Surrendering to Jesus

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Then receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord, then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do, but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.