Love your enemies... | Dana Wrinkle

Before getting into the meat of this week’s post, I want to announce the winner of last week’s giveaway, as promised! Congratulations to Jasmine Kerr for winning a copy of Shelene Bryan’s Love Skip Jump! Look for an email from me, so I can get the book sent to you right away! I pray it blesses you as much as it blesses me! And now… on to this week’s post!

As we continue our summer series on people living out the Word of God, I want to share the story of a dear friend. She has demonstrated what it looks like to live out one of the toughest verses in the Bible.

In fact, if I could choose a part of the Bible to discard, I would definitely throw this verse out.

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;… (Matthew 5:44; KJV)

I didn’t realize when Jesus said enemy, He was referring to the person I would hold most dear. Because no one can shatter your soul better than the person you trusted with your heart.

How do you love a mother who forgets the baby at her breast, a father who hurts, a husband who leaves, a child who curses, a friend who betrays or a disciple who denies?

I have concluded, only a heart submitted to Christ can love the unlovable.

Maybe this is why Jesus said…With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26) Jesus shows us how to love the unlovable, the faithless. He climbed up on that cross for each of us.

So when my friend pulled me aside and revealed her heart, my spirit exploded with joy. She has spent her life with a parent who has struggled to live out love. My friend knows the ache of a child whose parent struggled to provide. The ache of not being scooped up, held or lovingly affirmed.

And yet the same parent who struggled to love is now desperately in need of love. Love that provides. Love that protects. Love that heals.

My friend’s eyes reflected her anguish. Her soul was in turmoil as her flesh screamed no but her spirit whispered yes. How could she spend years saving to now use it for the parent who never provided? Was this what God was calling her to do?

Against all logic. Against every fleshly desire for vindication, my friend said yes to God. She and her husband agree to buy a home. They agreed to do without, in order to provide for the one who did not provide. They agreed to love the unlovable.

They bought a home, but I believe they bought a soul.

In that moment with my friend, my spirit danced in triumph over the enemy. Surely, what the enemy had intended for harm, God was now using for good…the saving of one soul.

God is pursing a soul. He is using whatever means necessary to pierce a heart with His love. At great cost to herself, my friend chose to be the vessel God could use to demonstrate His great love. Even if my friend’s parent never receives the love of Christ, my friend has been found faithful. And I believe the angels rejoice over her act of faithfulness.

My friend shopped to the glory of God! It was/is painful. It comes with great sacrifice. And I am sure it is a constant cutting away of her flesh to walk this out.

But oh how sweet to my soul. I see Jesus in her! Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can someone do this. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we love those who did not choose to love us. Not by might, nor by power but by my spirit says the Lord. (Zechariah 4:6)

These are the battles God calls us to fight. These are the battles He calls us to win!!

Thank you dear friend for living out the Word of God. You have fanned the flame of my faith. You are changing the world one soul at a time!!