"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” Matthew 5:44-46, NIV
A friend of mine had related to me that when she was growing up she had a black cat. She always love and her cats and named her cats by their color, but since she already had a black cat, when this one came along and had kittens, she called her “Mother-cat.” I thought very appropriate, Now we know that most cats are very aloof and independent. But this was not the case in Mother-cat. She would even jump into her lap when called. Mother-cat had the gentlest, kindest, and most endearing personality she had ever seen in a pet.
The one morning my friend went out onto the patio to pet her. It was at a touch Mother-cat hissed, reached out, and scratched my friend. My friend got real mad and yelled at the pet until Mother-cat limped away. Wow my friend didn’t know what had come over her, what changed her so drastically. Then she found out that she had been hit by a car the night before, and her hip was dislocated.
It was later that my friend told me the Lord impressed upon her that morning. It was as though He spoke and said, “You watch, young lady and you will see people who snarl and scratch. But try to understand; that just maybe they’ve been hurt. A hurt that you know nothing about. Look past the snarl and love the hurt and beyond.”
How can you look past a hurt that has happened to someone and then love beyond that today?
We Love you and pray for those who may have hurt you and know we are here and we are praying for you.
In His and our love. Pastor Dave and Mary Beth.
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