Saturday, February 7, 2009

Called to Be a Lover AND a Fighter!

We have all heard the phrase, "I'm a lover, not a fighter." This statement seems like a valid one, especially for Christians, but I believe the Lord has called us to be both...Lovers and Fighters!

Being a Lover as Jesus commands in Matthew 5:43 & 44 requires us to love EVERYONE whether friend or foe. "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." It is rather easy to love those who love us, love those who are like us, love those who fit into our (not God's) preconceived ideas of righteousness. However, what of those who treat us unkindly, those who backbite and gossip and persecute us? Jesus makes no distinction between Loving neighbor or enemy, and even goes so far to say that Loving our enemies indicates our spiritual maturity level in Matthew 5:46-48.

In the post, True Love, More Than a Feeling, it was written that Love, true Love, is based on much more than the feelings that happen to be running through our soul at the moment. According to the standard God has set, Love is actions and attitudes and thought processes; "feelings" are not necessarily required to Love someone, although, I honestly believe feelings will line up with God's Spirit as we are obedient to walk out Love. Just how do we walk out Loving our enemies, when the feelings in our soul scream to hide, shun or retaliate?

Our Fighter calling is birthed by actually Loving our enemies, viewing them with the Father's eyes, and as Romans 12:14 instructs us,"Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them." God is clear, we are to bless our enemies, not curse them, which reveals another question, just how do we "bless" our enemies, "see" them with His eyes?

"For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere," Ephesians 6:12. There you have it; it is NOT about the person (enemy), it IS about the spirit behind the person! Blessing our enemies, seeing our enemies with God's eyes requires us to see deeper than the surface of the physical and to peer into the spiritual realm...not basic Christianity 101.

The proposition set before us is clear, we bless our enemies by speaking words of life, Proverbs 18:21, knowing that our words have the power to break down the spiritual strongholds controlling our enemies!!! Our tongues have the power to set our enemies free from the bondages, which cause them to treat us, unkindly, backbite and gossip and persecute us. In this way, our Christianity matures, day-by-day, being transformed into the image of Jesus!

Holy Spirit, empower us to reach spiritual maturity...not only Loving those who Love us, but Loving and fighting for our enemies. We are called to represent You, Jesus, and You preached the gospel, healed those afflicted by sickness- emotional and physical, and set the captives free! We receive Your power to be Lovers and Fighters!!! All for the glory of Jesus!!! AMEN!!!!

3 comments:

Crown of Beauty said...

BG, I would love to be both a fighter and a lover, and the way you put it strikes me - that we live out our fighter calling by actually loving our enemies. This is so contrary to how the world thinks. We do need to work actively to grow in spiritual maturity. This is my main goal for this year: to go up to the next level of my life. Thanks for sharing your deep thoughts!

Hands-Free Heart said...

Beautiful post. Thanks for sharing.

Tracy said...

I just had an opportunity to pray for an enemy. It is awesome how the Lord changes our hearts when we choose to pray for and bless our enemies. He enables us to forgive and deposits love. Good post it's well written and an important message. Timely for me.
Tracy