Living in a small community of only thirty-six homes, there are times when our neighbors make it hard to love them. Someone in my community once said to me, “it is very hard to keep up my faith with neighbors like them.” I think we can all agree with that statement! Some people are hard to love. Imagine the insults hurled at Jesus while He was being beaten and tortured, and then being hung on the cross, and tormented some more. Not once did He return the insults or sin while this was happening to Him. I am so grateful that He endured, and sacrificed Himself for us, because I’m not so sure I could have taken that kind of punishment without sinning, much less the minor insults hurled by my neighbor! We must remember, as we are being insulted by the ungodly, our Father is a just God, and you can expect the day will come when they will pay for their sins against His beloveds. If you are finding it hard to maintain your testimony while facing an adversary, try what C. S. Lewis suggests:
“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love them.”
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:23
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