Jesus Christ taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. While we may nod in agreement to this teaching, it becomes very challenging to practice when we are faced with these circumstances. When a person we know is gossiping, slandering or intentionally being malicious toward us, following the teaching of Jesus may seem impossible. However, when we have the Holy Spirit we can respond the way Jesus would want us to because where we are weak, there He is strong.

These verses in Proverbs provide clear instruction for the believer when being wounded by an enemy. We are clearly told to be compassionate and generous and do our best to meet their needs instead of retaliating. While our flesh will fight for justice, God instructs us to allow vindication to be His job and not ours. Our job is to help and pray for our enemies. In being gracious to your enemy you will actually make things more difficult for them and you will be rewarded by the Lord.

This is EXACTLY what Jesus Christ did when He was on the earth. While the world was yelling insults and physically punishing Him, He graciously prayed for them and entrusted Himself to His Father. As we grow in greater likeness to our Master, we too will have opportunities to show mercy to those who have been hurtful to us. These acts require dependence on the Lord and grow us into maturity.

Can you think of someone who has intentionally wounded or hurt you? RIGHT NOW, I encourage you to forgive them, pray blessing over them and ask the Lord to place your heart in a position where you would have compassion for them. While this is impossible on our own, we can rest in the fact that all things are possible with God!