“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” -Matthew 5:46

The first reward you receive from loving your enemies is joy. A joyful life. Nothing ruins a good day more than getting some email or hearing through the grapevine that somebody said about you. Do you ever ruminate over something that someone did to you three days ago? Even though you’re not with that person anymore, your head is spinning and you’re distracted. I do that. When we let it go and give it to God, we say I’m too blessed to worry about it. Then, we will inherit joy that will last. Even when we have real enemies that are really evil and do nasty stuff to us, if we let it go we take away the power from our enemies to keep wounding us. By forgiving and not needing revenge, we are simply removing our enemy’s power to keep wounding us. Then, we can hold our wound before God and he will heal it.  He’ll take care of our competitors, enemies, and critics — we don’t have to.

PRAYER: Thank you, God, for taking care of my enemies. Help me to focus on letting my hurt go so that I can find joy.

REFLECTION: How does it feel to let go of your hurt?