| Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash
In Romans 12: 9-21, we see the characteristics or marks of a healthy follower of Jesus. These are characteristics that are developed by activating the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is what produces these marks in our lives. Because in our own strength we will never be able to live this out in our daily lives.
Romans 12:14 – “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.” How many of us struggle with this characteristic in our daily life? God expects me to bless people who persecute me, hate me, reject me, talk evil about me? God expects me to bless them, bless them, help them, forgive them, love them, and be nice to them? Paul tells us: “Don’t curse them, pray that God will bless them.”
Pray that God will bless them! When we pray that God will bless them, we are giving them over to God and asking God to do what is best for this person. We need to surrender the person and the pain to the Lord, and allow the Lord to change them, help them, and bless them. Blessing them means praying that the Lord will do what needs to be done in their lives, not what we want to happen.
The best thing we can do is forgive the person and surrender them, along with the situation, to the Lord. I need to realize that I cannot change anyone, but I can pray that the Lord will have His way in their life.
Today, ask the Lord to give you a heart of forgiveness, and to pray that God will have His way in their life and that God would bring them to Himself!
Lord, help me today to live this out in my life!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the International Christian Center (ICC) Lead Senior Pastor at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws on many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and from significant emotional experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is receiving rave reviews. The daily devotion appears in this publication.
