Soulfood

How do we react when we are hurt? How do we process our hurting emotions? Responding righteously is hard when what we feel and believe is stronger in the moment than the commandments of Christ.

Am I aware of how I typically respond when I am hurt? Do we assume the worst or do we consider our own faults? Do I share my hurts in order to seek wisdom, or to justify myself? Am I charitable towards those who have hurt me in the way that I want them to be towards me?

Conflict is one thing that God uses to shape us to be more like Him. The problem is 1) we are called to honor those who harm us because they are image bearers and 2) we are still called to be imitators of Christ

Why do we strive to speak about our enemies in God-honoring ways?

1.) God tells us to (Eph 4:26, 29, 31, 32

2.) Our peace comes from obedience (Matt 5:9, Rom 12:12-17)

3.) It helps others to discern the situation clearly (Heb 12:14)

4.) Called to image Jesus, even in conflict (Matt 5:9)

Who is an enemy?

Darby Strickland

Not everyone who hurts us is an enemy. We are sinned against in all kinds of ways, but not everyone who sins against us is an enemy. “An enemy is one who hates another and wishes him injury or attempts to do him injury to gratify his own malice or ill will.” Prov 6:12-14

Psalm 69:1-4 David’s anguish over his enemies – we can feel overwhelmed by the strength of our enemies. But we must not ascribe malice to everyone who opposes us.

Sometimes we confuse careless or gossipy speech with slander and malice. When someone is a true enemy it will be obvious in time.

An enemy will be a great cause of trouble for us. Our most formidable and persistent enemy is Satan. Our earthly enemies are only an imitation of Satan. And as they imitate him, we must not – the temptation is to become like our enemies – to be made in the image of Satan.

Satan stirs up rage in hearts, destroys the work of God, accuses and slanders, hinders others from seeing Christ and the gospel, and twists the word of God

So often our hurt turns directly into pride and self-justification. We need to remember the spiritual side of our pain, and resist the easiness of imaging Satan

So we don’t seek to stir up rage on our behalf by venting in a way that artificially emphasizes the wrongs of others done to us

Be sober minded, be watchful. Our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking who to devour. 1 Peter 5:7

Psalm 17 You have tried my heart…David checks his own heart before characterizing his enemies.

To whom and how should I talk about my enemies?

1st – speak to God. Ultimately only he can help, and he knows, sees, understands, and cares. A cry is hard to ignore.

Having an enemy can make us feel as though God has abandoned us – and so we also cry out to those who can help us connect with God. They must be able to point us to God, temper and refine our messy and unsanctified speech, help us lament in godly ways, pray with and for us, and provide wise counsel.

Questions to ask when seeking out someone to speak to about my enemy:

1. What type of support do I need? How many people?

2. Why am I telling my story to /this/ person?

Is there someone you can seek who will be a helper to your enemy?

Sometimes you don’t really know a person until you ask something hard of them?

Does the person I’m talking to seek both my good and the good of my enemy?

Don’t try to win people to your side, seeking to manipulate others into justifying yourself. (This is imaging Satan)

Children of the Heavenly Father act lovingly towards those who seek our ruin (Matt 5:44)

Radical love seeks gospel love for my enemy.

Radical love protects our enemy by using care in whom we speak to against/about them

Radical love honors enemies as image-bearers

What types of things do we say?

Avoid retaliation and seeking our own sense of Justice. We must wait on the Lord. Psalm 2:4 God laughs and scoffs at them – but this is not our role. We have confidence in his actions, not our own.

Speak humbly – our hearts always bend toward pride. We must not become spiritually proud and discount our own capacity for sin and evil, lest grace be removed from us!

Pray for your enemy. Pray for your enemy. PRAY for your enemy. Entrust yourself to the one who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:23

Ask others to pray for me that my heart would not be hardened.

May we strive to image Jesus as we talk about our enemies.