Dear persecutor

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

Romans 12:14

Dear persecutor,

There are many things I could call you, but there is a higher calling that tells me to love you, to speak well of you and never express hatred. So, I speak of Him who gave the calling. He loved us both since before the foundation of the world. I am you, and you are me. I long to be judge and seize control, I also cry when I am misjudged. You are like me, sinner, hurt, broken. For too long, I have not loved you the way God wants me to. Maybe in my broken testimony, I have shown you indifference and anger, but not today.

Today I choose to see our maker, for in His image we were made. My hope for us is kinship; today I choose His grace.

We are both His creation and are both part of something bigger. Christ made it so. We are one body and one church. I choose to look upon you, I choose to see your pain. All the times you’ve expressed it, have been times I was called to learn, to cry with you and to laugh with you. I choose to do so now. So maybe, you’re mistaken, but God looks upon us both with love and grace. It is only worthy of Him that we do the same with each other. I choose this reminder over the whispers of shame, wrong doing and judgement. There is one thing we have in common, we both needed a savior, we both found it in Jesus.

To you, friend, sister, brother, I will not persecute. Though I may not be ready to embrace you, I will bless you and pray, that one day we will praise together the Lord who chased us down in love.

With love,

C.