Two Lionesses Attacking Their Prey

Loving others the way Jesus calls me to is challenging at times, but never more difficult than when accusation daggers are hurled in my face with contempt.  “That” makes the process a bit more difficult for me.

I was sitting in a room with my husband, Joe, and two other believers talking through an issue we had between the four of us.  Things got intensely heated after discussing something I said to them previously.  They were so convinced that my motive for saying it was evil that they verbally laid into me with contempt and animosity.

After explaining myself and defending my motives, which were nothing like they attributed them to be, their verbal assault intensified.  I know it sounds a bit dramatic, but the two of them instantly became like two lionesses attacking their prey in unison.  I was completely speechless and shocked.

Crying, I turned to Joe with desperation in my face and palms turned upward, saying, “I don’t know what else to say!  They’re so convinced of what they believe that nothing I say is going to make a difference!”

The words had no sooner left my lips when one of them took a final shot and scornfully said, “Stop playing the victim!”  With that, it was over.  There was nothing else to say, so we left.

It has been several years since then, and it is still hard for me to believe what transpired that day.  But what is even harder to believe is that I still somehow love these people with a godly love in my heart, after all I went through.  It did not happen overnight.  But when I finally prayed and asked Jesus to help me forgive them, He uttered six simple words to my spirit: “I died for their sins, too.”

Hearing those words comforted me so much!  It affirmed that their actions were not okay and reminded me that their sins were part of why Jesus went to the cross.  I realized that forgiving them was not an act of accepting their sins or transforming them into godly actions.  It was an act of releasing them from my heart because their punishment had already been paid – by Jesus!

What about you? Is loving others challenging when they act in unloving ways? Let me know in the comments.