But obedience isn’t always easy.
God commands, for example, that you love your enemy (Mt 5:44).
How do we love someone who has done us great harm. How do we
bless those who curse us? If somebody says bad things about me,
how am I going to speak highly of that person? Moreover, how can
we be kind to those we hate? How do we pray for one who
persecutes and treats us badly, and still continue to be in God’s
service?

Let’s see! To love is to wish
well. Therefore, even if a person has done wrong, do not wish
that person harm. Steven set a great example when, though he was
stoned to death, did not wish death upon his executioners. On the
contrary, he asked for God’s mercy.

If somebody goes around saying bad
things about you, don’t play their game. Instead, look for
something nice to say about this person. Remark that maybe they
were just being hot headed, were nervous, or having a hard time.
This is good for a person who hates another, because he or she
becomes liberated from the devil’s oppression, since satan
certainly has been oppressing them (Ac 10:38).

Perhaps you might say that to pray
for one who persecutes you, and to treat them badly, is the same
thing; since your struggle isn’t against flesh and blood.

Job had lost everything and was
visited by three friends who, instead of consoling him, tormented
him; and accused him of every kind of sin. In the end of the
book, Job has an encounter with God, and he repents for what he
had said without understanding. The Lord gave and the Lord took
away, but we know that the Lord didn’t take anything away; the
devil did. Job did not receive anything from God when he
repented, but instead when he prayed for his friends who had
persecuted and tortured him. So, sometimes it’s not that we must
ask for a forgiveness; but that we must forgive, in order to obey
the Lord.

It’s no good to wear out the
subject, though we might have spoken about Abraham, whose son was
requested by God. Be careful with erroneous interpretations,
since Abraham didn’t need to sacrifice his child, and the devil is
the master of wanting to distort the Word (look how he tried in
Matthew 4). But what we want to make clear is that this man
obeyed the Lord.

We conclude saying that the Lord
commands, by the Word, that you renounce hurt feelings, hate,
rancor, sadness, and indignation; just like you would a
pleasurable desire, or even a project that is not in accordance
with the Word. So are you a servant or aren’t you, since men live
on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mt 4:4).

In the next article, we will speak about the fruits of
obedience—the servants reward. So, until then, In the name of
Jesus.