Just as God used the life of a former British slave trader, God can use you to make a difference in a world filled with angry barbs

Matthew 5:44English Standard Version (ESV)
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

As I read the headlines, I thought for a moment how there appears to be hate in the atmosphere we breathe.  Every single day, it seems, we are tossing out hate fill messages to everyone who has a more divergent opinion, different belief system from us. It is as though we're playing this very nasty game of ping-pong where the object is to embarrass our opponent by hitting the ball as hard as we can until, that is, when it disappears from their side of the table.  Imagine, if you will, millions of these nasty ping-pong games going on around you where the player's faces are red with rage as they rip to shreds their opponent.  As more and more of these nasty games are being played, hate begins to poison the air we breathe, and before long, we begin to show symptoms of anxious thoughts, profound sadness with a loss desire for getting out of bed in the morning? 

As we castigate our opponents every waking moment, we are forgetting that there is a God, a living God, who wants to make a difference in our lives.  Instead of hate, he wants us to love those who have opposite opinions from us. Instead of exchanging barbs in the rearview mirror, he wants us to pray for them for whatever it is ailing them. The man who wrote Amazing grace was once a British slave trader.  John Newton suffered greatly with the horrific images of suffering men, woman and children were forcibly taken from their homeland and sold as slaves to wealthy people who devalued them as humans.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace  

Instead of hate, he turned to God with a desire to change the system so slaves could be set free and Britain was no longer in the slave trading business. 

Instead of hate, God gave him love. Instead of exchanging barbs, God gave him the desire to pray for his fellow man and to develop a color blindness and see the value of people through His eyes.

Imagine how our lives would change if we prayed for those who hate us, for those who persecute us, for those who want to destroy us? 

Just maybe our nation's hearts would slowly turn toward God and just as God used John Newton, he uses you to give hope to those around you.

Now that, my friends, is a beautiful thought!