Blessing Those Who Curse You

"Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." -Luke 6:28 Have you ever had an enemy? It could be someone you might have gotten into an argument with, someone who wronged you, or it could even be a former friend or estranged relative. However the enemy became an enemy, Jesus taught us that we are to bless our enemies, to pray for those who have hurt us. (Matthew 5:44) This is easier said that done. Often if there has been abuse involved it is difficult to think about that person and even harder to forgive them. But, forgive them we must - because as Jesus said, "...if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:15) There is an incredible story of a Holocaust survivor named Eva Kor who decided to forgive the unforgivable. Eva and her twin sister were taken from their family by Nazi guards for medical experiments conducted by Dr. Josef Mengele, known as the "Angel of Death," never to see their mother, father and two older sisters again. After nine months of being subject to mental, emotional and physical abuse, Kor was finally rescued from Auschwitz by the Soviet Army. But, though she was physically free, she would spend years in an emotional prison due to the abuse and heartache she had suffered. Finally, in 1995, she met with a Nazi doctor who had been at Auschwitz when she and her sister were at the camp. He had been responsible for signing death certificates for those who died in the gas chamber. Kor asked him to go back to Auschwitz and sign a declaration about what he told her to bring closure to the horror she had endured. It was then that she decided to forgive. “I discovered that I had one power left in life," she said. "I could forgive the Nazis for what they did to me. I felt such freedom. I was no longer a tragic prisoner. I was free of Auschwitz and I was free of Mengele. Forgiveness is the seed of peace," she said. As someone who underwent some of the most tragic circumstances that could ever befall someone in life, being taken away from family, abuse, neglect and near death, she has the most profound advice: “Forgive. See the miracle that can happen.” Do you pray for your enemies? Do you bless those who curse you? Ask God to help you bless your enemies today. Related resource: Total Forgiveness by R.T. Kendall

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