Last week I spent a couple days at the Ohio Evangelism Conference. I probably sat through six sermons there. Now this week, Danny Lanier is preaching for me, and I am sitting through five more sermons. It's hard for a preacher to sit through eleven sermons and at the same time go two weeks without preaching! If I had hair, I would be pulling it out.
Needless to say, I am itching to preach.
I have been working on my upcoming Sunday evening message. Since revival will be over, we can get back to our walk through the last five chapters of Romans. This week we will focus on how we are to treat our enemies.
Knowing how to respond to difficult people or even mean-spirited people is an important life skill. How many times a week are we confronted with people who are insensitive or antagonistic toward us? Sometimes we face this at work, in the community, at home, or even at church! As I have studied the last eleven verses of Romans 12, I believe God has given us three attitudes, or three approaches we should take when this happens.
If we will strive for these three attitudes, two things will happen. First, we will be more at peace. We won't get so upset or angry. We won't have our day ruined by the actions or insensitivities of others. Second, we will become an instrument of God in the life of the one who is our 'enemy.' Perhaps we could be a blessing to our antagonist instead of letting our anger become a stumbling stone in his or her life.
Pray for me as I continue to study. I need to learn this lesson as much as anyone. My prayer is that God will change me in this respect, and then allow me to just teach you from Scripture what God has taught me.
Pastor Noel
