01. for my view of this person or group of persons as through the eyes of the Lord
02. for a transformation of my heart
03. for further illumination of areas in which i am ungracious for this person/group of persons
04. for opportunities to meet with this person or someone in this group and show them love
this is much easier said than done. there are people in my life and in my past that i can barely sit in a room with. i do not want to love this person/these persons. but i've come to realize that i only love God as much as i love the person i love the least. i am to be an instrument of peace, of mercy, of community, of justice and guess what? hating people, even in a passive way, destroys that. there is no place for hate in a peacelover and there is no room for such darkness in someone who wishes to dwell in the light of the Lord. looking in a spiritual mirror is uncomfortable but time and experience has told me that the pain of dealing with myself, dying to myself to follow the Kingdom is exponentially rewarding. so now im adding these 4 objects of prayer, along with people's names and/or groups of people i struggle to love/downright hate to my google calendar with email reminders sent every day. it is very hard to write down certain people's names, as i am so resistant to change my heart towards them! i realize how unloving i have been in my heart. my teeth grind when i think of asking God to help me love ___. but every monday im going to pray for this person, and tuesday the next and next until i know one day the yolk of anger and hate will be lifted. where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
6 comments:
<3!
So, come on. Let's hear it. Who do you hate?
re: nathan - we are good buddies in real life. im sure he's just horsing around :)
im glad you liked this post
Beautifully put! I'm going to print your post and keep it at my desk as a reminder of what I should be doing.
this really spoke to me in a big way. any chance I can post it as a note on my facebook page with credit to you of course? i'd love to share it with others!
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