Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (Rom. 12:14)
I was fourteen when my family moved 1,000 miles from home to help plant a church. For the first nine months, everything was going strong. However, something changed, and my family was faced with a time of great trial. Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, we came to the conclusion that we could not continue to work with the leaders of the church plant. We felt we were pushed away and considered “unfit to serve.” My family felt betrayed. Eventually, we experienced a period of great healing and restoration by the grace of God. But, I would be lying to you if I said that I never harbored bitter thoughts against that church family.
For the longest time, I wanted the church to fail. The issue with this sort of mind-set is that it is contrary to the Word. In fact, my bitterness was my bondage, and I found freedom only when I found the strength to pray for the church to be blessed.
A secular society teaches revenge, but the Bible teaches the opposite. We should strive to follow the words of Paul found in Romans. We must do all we can to live in harmony, through love for all people, even those who have wronged us. This is the only way to overcome evil with good.
Pray for someone who has hurt you.
Ethan Zent is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He’s studying worship leading and pursuing Wesleyan ordination at Kingswood University.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
