August Reflection

Obey
“Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it.”
James 1:22

I listen to God’s word, it is very easy to listen. But what is hard is to follow through.

I remember this passage where it says that I should love my enemies. That sounds really nice and all, but really? Love my enemies? Really? I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to know how at that time because I didn’t even want to think about my enemies, at all. I wanted nothing to do with them.

But the passage was still there.

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
Mathew 5-44

The passage sounded really wholesome and really meaningful. Not to my ears, it didn’t sound realistic. How do I love my enemies? What’s to love about them? I mean, I didn’t even like them. And I certainly didn’t want to think about them.

But I did try to pray for them. And the thing is, when I did try to pray, I started to somehow care about them. It started small of course. I prayed for what they should improve on, I prayed that life treats them well and that they do the same to others. After praying, I began to see how human they really were. They were just like me. Human, flawed, imperfect. I tried to really understand them. The next move was to try to love them.

And it was almost impossible for me. How do I love someone I hate? But I tried. I really did. And there was a time when I did manage to love them and trust them but they still hurt me.

And this is what I learned: While loving them, you should also love yourself.

You can’t really let people step on you, you can’t really let them hurt you. In the passage it said, “bless them that curse you.” But that doesn’t mean you let them hurt you. I learned that simply praying from afar is already a form of love. You don’t let your people hurt you, but you don’t let them be as well. You pray for them, you love them from afar.

When I did love them from afar, I felt at peace, and even happy. I no longer hated them nor didn’t like them. They existed and I pray for them. It was nice and I no longer felt troubled or angry whenever I see them. Peace. That was what it brought me, pure peace.

Listening and obeying God’s word brings many blessings and bring people serenity. By loving my enemies and praying for them, I no longer am bothered by them. I accept and love them from afar, even when they don’t see it. Or even if they don’t know.

It is really idiotic to just listen or read God’s word without applying it to your life, because that will be as if you’re just looking at delicious and healthy food and not consuming it.

So in the end, following through His word isn’t for anyone else but us. We benefit from it. And I think God wants that. I think God wants what is best for us all the time.

God wants us to be happy, always. It is the same with rules and laws. They are made for us, to keep us safe, to help us with life. That is exactly how it is with God’s word. They are made for us. It isn’t as if God will benefit if we followed His word, no. We ourselves gain more than enough if we obeyed Him. We gain peace, happiness, and love.

God wants that for us, He wants us to love and be loved, have joy and make people happy, be at peace and bring peace.

Every single one of us deserves a happy life. God’s word reminds us that.