As I sit at my computer staring at the hurtful message before me, I make myself take a deep breath. The message was a response to Facebook invites. For those of you who aren’t constantly bombarded by my invites to blog, I send these out weekly to my friends list. I have gotten positive feedback, as well as negative. Although mixed feedback should have seemed inevitable, I still didn’t expect the negatives.
As Christians, we need to be aware that we will receive negativity about our faith. When looking back, I believe freshman year of college was the first time I heard people openly speak negatively about God. During my second semester, I was in an Art Appreciation class where students were told to make a picture that poked fun of something well-known. As I looked at my peer’s work, I noticed at least three pictures poking fun at Jesus, Heaven, and/or God. I was so shocked that people felt so strongly about God, so undesirably.
As I look at the disregard for Christianity today, I see anger on both the Christians’ and the non-Christians’ sides. When someone says something against our faith, we feel hurt and anger. If we let this anger take over, we push non-Christians away, as well as let them get under our skin. Going back to the negative feedback I received from the blog, my first response was pain. But then I took a step back and tried to look at what these people must be feeling and going through. I started to pray and was led to the music video below.
After listening to this song, I knew God was telling me to love on those providing the negativity. As the song says, “Why do we think that our hate’s gonna change their heart… /Cause pride won’t let us lay our weapons on the ground.” God wants us to love those hurting us and turn to Him when we feel unable to. How do we expect those around us to experience God’s love, if we aren’t showing it ourselves? No one deserves forgiveness from God or anyone they’ve hurt, yet it is necessary.
I think sometimes we think if someone hasn’t asked for forgiveness, then we have the right to hold onto our hate. Just as the song’s lyrics say, “Well truth be told it doesn’t matter if they’re sorry or not/ Cause freedom comes when we surrender to the sound/ Of Your mercy and Your grace, Father, send Your angels down.” How many times does God ask us to forgive others? Seventy times seven. Yet how many times are we so reluctant to do so?
Forgiveness requires courage. We must be willing to forget our pride and move towards loving the unlovable. As Ephesians 6: 11-17 says, we are called to be Christian warriors that defend ourselves against evil. Having the courage to let go of anger towards other relieves us and allows us to brightly reflect Christ’s light. Seek God when you lack the courage to overcome anger towards those around you, but He is the one that understands that weakness the best. Please end in the prayer below or your own.
Dear Heavenly Father, I know that You are for me. I know that You are greater than any evil I will face. Lord, there are times that those around me harm me physically and emotionally, but Lord help me forgive them. In these times, help me to remember to look to You and to look to what Jesus did for me. Give me the courage to forgive and let go of my anger and be the Christian warrior You have called me to be. In Your Name, Amen.
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