Love Your Enemies

Three Keys to Becoming a Servant Leader

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5,6 As we wrap up our discussion about what it means to love our enemies and bring unity to our workplaces, I want to offer three practical tips that will help you to be a conduit of peace from the inside out. You see, becoming a servant leader is not a matter of trying harder, it’s a matter of the heart. The more you trust the Lord with your life and the more assuredly you believe that serving others is His best plan for you, the more naturally peace and goodness will flow from you. That said, here are a few things to remember: First of all, be patient. Intentionally practice patience and quit hurrying through your life. Instead

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Servant Leadership

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” – John 13:14 What do you think about when you hear the phrase “love your enemies”? If you’re like me, it’s possible that you ask yourself the question, “Do I really have enemies?” If you’re a Christian and one who is serious about your walk with God, it may feel strange to define people as enemies — especially if you are trying to live at peace with everyone. But what happens if you replace the word enemies in that question with competitors. How do you love your competitors? More often than not in our modern world, we are dealing not with people who are out to get us specifically, but with those who are out for their own gain. They view everyone in the world as a competitor, and that includes you.

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How to Love Your Enemies

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” – Luke 6:35 Yesterday we talked about EGRs, or those people in our lives who require extra grace. We agreed that the best way to deal with them is to love them. Today, I want to elaborate on how we do that, particularly the fact that our ability to love does not come from a place of trying harder, but rather from transformed character. You see, when we submit to the work of Jesus and cultivate true faith and selflessness, agape love bubbles up from within us! Loving our enemies is not a spontaneous happening, nor is it an end in itself. Rather, it is the fruit of

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Extra Grace Required

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 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.” – Matthew 5:43-45 In ministry, we have a phrase we use when we have to deal with difficult people. It’s called extra grace required, so we call these people who are harder to love: EGRs. Sometimes we encounter EGRs at work. These are the people who steal our staplers, log onto our computers, or who gossip about us. Then there are EGR bosses. The ones who don’t promote us, won’t give us raises, who threaten to fire us or who play favorites while taking credit for the work we do. If

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Spiritual Dexterity

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 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.” – Matthew 5:43-45 There are a few practical things you can do in your daily life and in the Kingdom of God to become more robust and strengthen your anti-fragility. First, you must take some hits. If you’ve been playing it safe for a while, you should put yourself in a position to be stretched, even if it hurts. Taking a few punches in the name of growth can and should become part of your daily rhythm and habit. However, don’t forget to rest throughout these developing seasons; you need at

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Love People

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” -Romans 12:14

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