Day 26
life isn’t always fair
Today’s Scripture
Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.
Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16Live in
harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary
people. And don’t think you know it all!
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see
you are honorable. 18Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the
Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them
something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their
heads.”
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Romans 12:14-21 (NLT)
Big Idea
With God’s help, you can be prepared for rough, difficult, challenging
moments in life.
Today’s Thought
Maybe you’ve had a relatively “easy” life so far. Your parents are happily
married, none of your close friends or relatives have died, you’ve experienced
good health, and you’ve developed deep friendships with people you’ll
probably know for the rest of your life.
But maybe you’ve already gotten a firsthand lesson in how tough life can be.
You’ve experienced times when circumstances went against you — and when
people worked against you. You’ve been wronged and hurt and ignored and
criticized. You’ve lost loved ones who helped shape your world. Your parents’
marriage crumbled in front of your eyes.
Your friends may not even realize how painful and challenging your life has
been — but God knows.
Bad things will happen to good people. How do you choose to supernaturally
respond to the evil that is aimed at you?
In these verses from Romans 12, Paul is telling us to be ready for the “junk” in
life. He encourages Christians to know how to respond in inevitable situations
— times we want revenge against others, times we’re persecuted for our faith, times we and our friends will weep and rejoice, times we will encounter evil.
This is really good news, in a way. It helps us avoid the temptation to run away from challenging situations or difficult people. We could read these verses and say, “OK, I’ll just have two friends all life, I’ll move to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and I won’t let the evil of this world get near me at all.” Sorry. That strategy won’t work.
That’s why Paul’s strategy — it’s actually Jesus’ strategy — is a better choice. Life isn’t always fair. But as r12 Christians, our response to evil and difficulties and challenges can reveal God’s work in our lives. And that’s a pretty good path to travel.
Prayer
God, I’d like everything to work perfectly in my life, but I recognize this won’t happen. Help me learn the spiritual lessons You want me to learn when I feel evil working against me. Give me Your strength to endure, and help me to become more like You through the whole process. Amen.
Day 27
love your enemies
Today’s Scripture
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.
Matthew 5:43-47 (NLT)
Big Idea
Do something revolutionary — love the people who hate you.
Today’s Thought
OK, let’s be honest — this commandment from Jesus in Matthew 5 has to be one of the hardest commandments in the Bible to obey! “God, you want me to love the people who hate me? Did you forget the fact that they HATE me?!”
Supernatural love is a difficult idea for us natural people to grasp, develop, and demonstrate. People who hurt us deserve punishment. People who betray us deserve retribution. That’s just the way it should work, right?
But consider this: Why does God love us? Why should God love us? What can we possibly do earn the affection of the Creator of the universe? (Trying posting that one as your next status on Facebook and see what responses you get!) Yet somehow God loves you and me and every other person on the face of the earth. Incredible. That’s what makes the song “Amazing Grace” so powerful to people of all ages — God’s love for us is amazing and incomprehensible and illogical and powerful and immeasurable.
We as humans can never love as perfectly as God loves. But as r12 Christians, we are called to obey and love our enemies the way God loves them. It’s a radical demonstration of what it means to follow Jesus. So how do we do it?
Start by forgiving the person who’s hurt you. Make the choice to forgive. Keep making that choice as you move forward in the forgiveness process. And someday you may reach the place where you’re happy when you hear that your enemy has succeeded and that God is blessing that person’s life.
It won’t happen overnight. But today you can begin the process of forgiveness and change and transformation — the process of loving your enemies.
Prayer
Dear God, I need Your help in following Jesus’ command to love my enemies. You know that this is something I don’t want to do, but I know it’s a huge step in following You and becoming an r12 Christian. Give me Your strength today to forgive the people who’ve hurt me, and give me the strength to forgive them again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. Change my heart and my life. Amen.
Day 28
pray for your enemies
Today’s Scripture
Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
Luke 6:28
Big Idea
Do something else revolutionary — pray for the people who cause you pain.
Today’s Thought
OK, if you thought yesterday’s challenge was tough, today’s isn’t much easier! But it’s really a “second step” in the process of desiring God’s best for your enemies. Jesus told us to forgive the people who’ve hurt us — our enemies. But He also told us to pray for these same people. Why?
There’s something powerful about prayer. It’s good and healthy to see prayer as our ongoing conversation with God — but prayer also goes much deeper and holds such power to change our lives. And it’s an essential practice in the process of loving our enemies.
Look at it this way: You’ve gone through a painful situation. A person you once called your friend has betrayed your trust, hurt your soul, and inflicted deep pain. Truly, this person has become your enemy. But then you read the words of Jesus: Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. And your mind immediately thinks of this one person.
You make the decision to forgive. Each day, you wake up and ask for God’s help in forgiving that person. But your feelings toward this enemy don’t seem to change. You become angry and bitter every time you see or think about this person.
Prayer can help God’s transforming work in your life. Pray for your enemy’s salvation — or for God to help this person grow as a Christian. Pray for God’s blessing in that person’s life. Pray that this person would have the best year, best birthday, best class, best competition ever.
Maybe this sounds overly simple. But as you pray for God’s best, your attitude will begin to change. Instead of being filled with anger or bitterness, you’ll start experiencing compassion and concern. The change may not happen immediately, but your prayers will open the door to God’s work in your life as an r12 Christian. Jesus knew what He was talking about. He prayed for the people who persecuted, rejected, and crucified Him. Let prayer for your enemies be the spark of change and transformation in your life.
Prayer
God, I don’t really know how to pray for the best in my enemies’ lives, but Jesus did it for His enemies, and I want to become more like Jesus. Give me inspiration and ideas on what to pray for, and help my heart to change as I seek Your best for my enemies’ lives. Amen.
Day 29
say “no” to revenge and retaliation
Today’s Scripture
Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.” Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.
Proverbs 20:22
Big Idea
Let God decide if people deserve revenge — it’s His job, not yours.
Today’s Thought
Your brothers betrayed you and sold you into a life of slavery. People you met along the way failed to deliver on their promises. You were accused of wrongdoing — even though you were innocent.
If this were you, you’d have a lot of reasons to be bitter and angry. You’d want revenge, retaliation, and payback. Most people would say you were justified.
Not God.
In the Old Testament, a guy named Joseph went through those very experiences, yet when he had the opportunity to get revenge, he said “no thanks” and chose to let God take care of things. Check out Genesis 42 through 45 for the full story of how Joseph handled himself when his brothers — unaware of his true identity — ask for food in the middle of a famine. Joseph easily could have retaliated by letting his brothers and their families starve. But he didn’t.
Joseph isn’t the only biblical character who accurately understood God’s perspective on revenge. King Saul persecuted and pursued David, but when David had the chance to kill Saul, he didn’t do it (1 Samuel 24 and 26). When early church leader Stephen was being stoned to death (Acts 7), he prayed that God would forgive his accusers.
And the greatest example was Jesus on the cross — he prayed for forgiveness instead of asking God for revenge against the people responsible for His crucifixion (Luke 23:34).
God doesn’t want us to take revenge because it’s not our job — it’s His job to judge. And besides, revenge rarely solves problems. It almost always escalates the situation!
You’re never more like God than when you as an r12 Christian reject revenge and choose to supernaturally conquer evil by doing good.
Prayer
God, there are so many times I want to retaliate against the people who have hurt me. You see inside my mind and heart, and You know how I’m still struggling to forgive them for what they’ve done. Help me to follow Your path. Help me to trust You because I know You want the best for my life and You’ve got my back. Amen.
Day 30
become a radical example of a changed life
Today’s Scripture
We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (NLT)
Big Idea
Relying on yourself is a recipe for spiritual death, but relying on God brings spiritual life.
Today’s Thought
Ever heard the story of The Little Engine That Could? It’s a classic tale for kids about a little engine that climbed a high mountain because it had a positive attitude and kept repeating the phrase “I think I can, I think I can.” It’s a great story to teach young children about the importance of hard work and dedication. But is it a good strategy for spiritual growth?
Look at 2 Corinthians 1:9. Paul makes a fascinating statement: “We stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God.” Wow! Paul didn’t think he could — in fact, he knew he couldn’t without God’s help.
You will become a radical example of a changed life as you stop relying on yourself and learn to rely only on God. When we rely on ourselves, we become tired and frustrated because of our human limitations. When we rely on God, we have the opportunity to tap into a limitless source of strength and creativity and inspiration and encouragement and transformation.
That’s what it means to be an r12 Christian. Relying on God means being surrendered to God, separate from the world and its values, sober in self-assessment, serving in love, and supernaturally responsive to evil with good.
Perhaps we can take The Little Engine’s idea and adapt it: I think I can — rely more and more on God! I think I can — become an r12 Christian as you work in my life! I think I can — become a radical example of a changed life!
Prayer
God, You’re so much more powerful than I am, and nothing is impossible for
You. Help me learn how to rely on you every day for answers and protection
and transformation. I want to become a radical example of a changed life, but
I know that only happens as I become more like You. Make me into a growing,
healthy, authentic r12 Christian who is rooted in a deep relationship with You.
Amen.
