People can be mean. People can be hurtful. People can even become hostile to the point of not only hurting, but attacking, abusing, and killing. It is not easy to withstand the verbal and physical abuses of another person. It is even more chilling when they group together and join forces to inflict their pain and destruction. What sparked this thought? Well, I was intrigued by a statement made by Jesus referring to our enemies. This statement only appears two times in the entire New Testament. Both references are found in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:28. It says “…pray for them which despitefully use you.” Have we ever stopped to wonder what “despitefully using” someone looks like? We need to know because Jesus requires us to pray for such people. The phrase “despitefully use” means to “treat abusively,” “to accuse falsely,” “to threaten,” or “to revile” (insult/condemn/censure/berate). Jesus says to pray for these people who dreadfully do these kinds of things to others.
Clever, Missouri (Christian County)