Monday, February 9, 2009
But I want to Punch them in the face!
Have you ever hated someone? Recently this has been an internal struggle of mine. Normally I love everyone. In fact, of the 6.75 billion people on earth I currently only despise one. Percentage wise that's not so bad. For a while, every time I thought about them I in turn thought about punching them in the face. I of course would never literally punch someone in the face, I'm a pacifist. But still, there was the thought, more figurative than literal. I fast and I pray and the thoughts fade but still to some degree remain. I guess the irony of the situation is the fact that I'm currently working on a teaching for church about love. Romans tells me to bless and not curse. I want them destroyed, and yet God tells me to bless them. My God is a God of love and he calls me to do the same.
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8 comments:
Hey Dan, I find myself in a similar situation. Kind of. I don't necessarily want to punch this person in the face, but I wish that they would just disappear so I would never have to deal with them again. God is really working on my heart about this, but I don't want to give it up yet. Even admitting this publicly is a begrudging step in the right direction. I hate it when I know what I should do, but just can't bring myself to do it.
I think we all struggle with the same sort of problem. Something that helped me out is found in Romans 2:1
It's not me is it?
I know how ya feel. I have had the same struggle. And I know I will probably face it again. I'll have to go through the whole process of getting myself to the point of being able to choose to forgive and step onto the road to do that. Even if my feelings don't line up with it. And understanding that forgiving does not mean excusing any bad behavior or saying I want to be the person's friend. It's just about saying "God, I release this person to you to deal with as you see fit". Because as we know, holding on to anger and unforgiveness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It's also an "open door" for the enemy because in hating I am agreeing with him.
God bless you with an extra dose of grace, my friend!! I LOVE YOU!
I have learned to overcome this by looking at the good qualities in the offending person. Everyone has some good in them. It really helps me to see them in a new light.
You need to quit being a wuss and just punch me already. I'll turn the other cheek for you to wail on too.
Come on. Bring it.
p.s.
God is already doing a good work in you and He is faithful to bring that good work to completion.
So there.
I will punch them for you for the small fee of $20.
Just kidding. I also have this one person whose throat I want to step on. Just one.
This is one of the toughest commands in all of christainity for me.
For me, it takes quite a bit of prayer. Luckily for us...God is faithful.
I can tell you from personal experience that hating has some freaky consequences. In my case, I hated one person for a long time, let that hate affect my life, and just when I managed to leave it up to God, he died - a very painful, slow death. How's that for freaking you out? Now I absolutely refuse to hate - intensely dislike, maybe, but hate - not in my makeup.
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