Would You Pray for Your Enemy!

[Marilyn777]

My oldest child is 6years old and went to kindergarten at a public school last year. She went through this difficult time were a few third graders would tease her and her friends on the playground. One day (after several days of crying over this) she told me that they had started teasing again and she told them, "I know why you're being mean....because you don't know that Jesus loves you, so I'm going to pray for you so you can learn that" the teacher confirmed watching this exchange and said the third graders looked so flabbergasted they just turned and walked away. She began praying for them every day after that in the van as I drove her to school. I would pray with her as well. I was so glad that my daughter learned this lesson at such a young age.

Edited to add: we also say the verse below in my sig tag before going to school each day as a reminder of WHOSE we are!

Your 6 year old is an inspiration to all of us as well! To learn that kind of tolerance and compassion at such a young age shows that you are a great parent instilling wonderful Christ-like qualities in your children. I wish everyone would be that vigillant in raising up Godly Children. Good job Keslc you should be very proud!

God Bless

Marilyn

[Guest LadyC]

My oldest child is 6years old and went to kindergarten at a public school last year. She went through this difficult time were a few third graders would tease her and her friends on the playground. One day (after several days of crying over this) she told me that they had started teasing again and she told them, "I know why you're being mean....because you don't know that Jesus loves you, so I'm going to pray for you so you can learn that" the teacher confirmed watching this exchange and said the third graders looked so flabbergasted they just turned and walked away. She began praying for them every day after that in the van as I drove her to school. I would pray with her as well. I was so glad that my daughter learned this lesson at such a young age.

Edited to add: we also say the verse below in my sig tag before going to school each day as a reminder of WHOSE we are!

that reminds me of when i was about that age. i had a "friend" that i used to play with. i really couldn't stand her, but she was the only kid in the neighborhood that was near my age and didn't prefer hanging with my older brother. so we played all the time, and boy, was she mean. one night i prayed and prayed that God would make her nice. and the next day, she WAS! she was like a normal person! i was so happy about God changing her heart that i just had to share it with someone, so i shared it with her... i told her that i knew why she was being so nice, because i'd prayed for her.

dumb move on my part. if i remember right, i think she beat me up for that! :oww:

i do pray for my enemies, but not as often as i should. thing is, when we forgive someone we're angry with, or who has hurt us, it's not for their benefit as much as for our own. when we talk to God about those we can't stand, it draws us closer to God and allows us to be more open to the comfort of the Holy Spirit. it also gets ourselves out of God's way, to deal with the other person in His time.

[Guest LCPGUY]

Totally excellent topic Marilyn

Before I was saved, born again, I held a lot of grudges and frankly never even thought about forgiving someone. Not so since then.

Not to brag, but I have been told be several Christians over the years that one of my gifts is forgivness and love. I hope that

[keslc]

My oldest child is 6years old and went to kindergarten at a public school last year. She went through this difficult time were a few third graders would tease her and her friends on the playground. One day (after several days of crying over this) she told me that they had started teasing again and she told them, "I know why you're being mean....because you don't know that Jesus loves you, so I'm going to pray for you so you can learn that" the teacher confirmed watching this exchange and said the third graders looked so flabbergasted they just turned and walked away. She began praying for them every day after that in the van as I drove her to school. I would pray with her as well. I was so glad that my daughter learned this lesson at such a young age.

Edited to add: we also say the verse below in my sig tag before going to school each day as a reminder of WHOSE we are!

Your 6 year old is an inspiration to all of us as well! To learn that kind of tolerance and compassion at such a young age shows that you are a great parent instilling wonderful Christ-like qualities in your children. I wish everyone would be that vigillant in raising up Godly Children. Good job Keslc you should be very proud!

God Bless

Marilyn

I am very proud of her! I pray that this spirit she has remains and is not "drowned out" by worldly ideas as she gets older, know what I mean. I take my responsibility as a parent to teach my kids about God and living for Him VERY seriously. It's something we talk about on a daily basis. We have discussed praying for our enemies in our devotional times together and this just showed me that she is paying attention! lol! I think it is soooo awesome that God even uses children to do His work and will. I feel so special that he chose mine in this situation and at that school!

Myself, I pray every day for the wisdom and strength to raise them the way God would have me raise them. It gets hard and weary sometimes, but it's in these moments God says, "see! told you they are listening!" lol!

This is such a good topic, Marilyn!! Thanks for getting us thinking on it again!

[Shelby]

Yes her daughter is one little girl who knows who she is and whose she is. Katie has done a wonderful job with all of her kids. She is a great example too!

Her new house is beautiful too!

[Catsmeow]

Okay, I'm stumped. What's the relationship between keslc and shelby? You all know each other and I'm clueless.

[Marilyn777]

This is an article from Christianity Today about loving your enemies, its very revealing about how some of us are preceived by non-Christians. It made me think twice especially since I work in a Church office.

Standing in the Enemy's Shoes

I learned how non-believers feel when they encounter Christianity at its ugliest.

By Bob Welch

In addition to holding down a newspaper job, I was teaching a Reporting 1 class at the University of Oregon when I encountered the most irascible student I've ever taught. She questioned nearly every grade I gave her. She claimed I was not doing enough to help her succeed. She berated me in front of the class. Enough was enough. I asked her to please stay after class.

"You don't seem to like me," I said. "Can I ask why?"

"Because you're part of the liberal media," she said. "You've got the rest of the class conned, but not me."

"And why's that?" I asked, puzzled by what I was hearing.

"Because I'm a Christian," she said smugly. To which I wanted to say: "Uh, let's just keep that our little secret."

In that instant, I knew what it was like for non-believers to encounter Christianity at its ugliest. I knew what it was like to be "The Enemy." In fact, I've been a Christian for more than 30 years, am an elder in my non-denominational church, and have written four books and dozens of magazine articles with Christian themes.

From my vantage point as a journalist, I'd say a large reason non-believers view Christians negatively is simple: Christians often behave negatively. All Christians? No. Much good goes on in the name of Christ, good that rarely makes headlines. Certainly some non-believers have biased perceptions of Christians. But incidents like the one with that student build walls between believers and non-believers-and are more common than I'd like to admit.

A news aide at our paper says the most difficult people to deal with are church secretaries.

A youth league basketball coach I coached against was a buzzer-to-buzzer screamer and pouter. After one game, I asked someone what the guy did for a living. "Oh, he's a pastor."

A high-ranking official from a Christian institute our newspaper had featured called and, for ten minutes, berated me for the story, which I had edited. I mentioned that a man who works at the same institute-let's call him Greg-attended my church and had really liked the story.

"So you, uh, go to the same church as Greg, huh?" the official said, obviously surprised.

"Yes I do."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't realize you were 'one of us.'"

It was fine and dandy for him to treat me like pond scum when assuming I wasn't a believer; but when he realized I was, he pushed full throttle on the charm-thrusters. And what of my student? Would she have treated me so cruelly had she known I, too, was a member of "The Club"?

If the fruit of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control-does not get modeled to the world at large, then why should we be surprised if the world sees Christians as unloving, joyless, impatient, unkind people?

I realize that even if we do treat non-believers with the "gentleness and respect" Peter refers to (1 Pet. 3:15) , the world may still turn its back on us and the One for whom we stand. But furthering Christ in our communities begins with the realization that being the salt and light means acting in such a way that people will notice a positive, not negative, difference about us. "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven," says Matthew 5:16.

Not long after the incident with the student, a well-known pastor in our community was killed in a plane crash. The paper did a first-rate job of reporting his memorial service, and the Christian community flooded the newspaper with thank-you calls. The managing editor, startled by these myriad "good deeds," sent out an all-staff message saying that in all his years in the business, he'd never seen so many people respond so positively to our coverage.

That's how Christians will lose their negative reputations: by seeing non-believers as Christ sees them, not as "The Enemy" or people unfit for "The Club," but people like us. People who need a pat on the back, salt to season life's staleness, and light to see through the darkness.

In Christ's Love

Marilyn

[keslc]

Okay, I'm stumped. What's the relationship between keslc and shelby? You all know each other and I'm clueless.

We are best friends! known each other for almost 17 years. Shelby is like a sister to me!

[stevehut]

Is it really optional for a Christian to pray for his enemy?

[senerhu]

In order to pray for your enemies, you first have to forgive them....Right??