Good Morning,

In Ephesians 6, Paul is talking to the church about how to stand strong in the Lord so that they can defeat the enemy. The problem we have is that our enemy is not someone we can see but we can see the people he uses against us. When the people jeered and sneered at Jesus while he was on the cross, he didn’t hate them, he hated what sin had done to them hence, “Forgive them Father …” (Luke 23:34). The enemies of our soul, the minions of the Devil, love nothing more than to press our buttons to get us to react to a situation negatively. As long as people are engaged in a fight, peace will not prevail. My mother used to say, “If one won’t two can’t” meaning if one person refuses to react a fight will not ensue (Susan Krier).

My encouragement for you today is to take a hard look at the situations in your life in which you are being dragged into a fight with a coworker or family member, to forgive the individual(s), or, “Hate the sin, not the sinner” (Jude 1:22-23).

Father,

Forgiveness is not natural to us human beings because we see the people we do not like, the bully, the teacher, parents, siblings, and/or our aggressors. The enemy of our soul hates all of mankind and he is unable to fight the battle without our help. The wars we face today are spiritual in nature in the face of flesh and blood. When I hold grudges against flesh and blood please remind me who I am and who the enemy is. I pray for peace today over this blood-stained nation so that healing can begin.

I.H.S. MK