Victory247

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? …But love your enemies, do good to them. Then your reward will be great”   Luke 6:32-35

When we know that somebody likes us, it is easier to like them. If someone has always helped us, we find it a pleasure to give to them. But, if we know a person who doesn’t like us, then we tend to not like them. If someone is usually selfish at our expense, it is really hard to want to help them in their time of need.

Dealing with difficult people and relationships can drive us to pleas for help from God. And often times, pleas of being forgiven because of our response to those difficult people.

Only God can create in us an ability to cope or deal with certain relationships. I feel that God uses these to move us into a more dependent bond with Him. We can evaluate how our faith-walk is going by how we are doing in this area of life.

Today’s verse tells us that when we make progress in dealing with these relationships, that our “reward will be great”! Not only in heaven, but in our daily inner peace and experience.

When I was a young basketball coach I easily got mad at the refs for making calls that went against my team, got angry at the players that didn’t perform to my expectations, and held bitterness toward opposing coaches, fans, and players. Until I learned to deal with this, with a lot of God’s help, I was miserable all season.

I learned to ask parents, players, coaches, and friends to pray for me and the players for a stronger dependence on Him. As I prayed more and grew in my faith, I could see myself handling people so much better. I actually began to truly enjoy coaching and all the relationships that go with it. I even have friends that are referees! My “reward was great”.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, help me to confess all my bitter and negative feelings toward others. Help me to care even if they don’t care for me. Keep convincing me that my reward is great. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.