Toxic people are also creations of God. Their toxicity can be many fold and we do not know why they are filled with hurt, anger, jealousy, selfishness, or a desire to pull everyone down to their level of nastiness. We have all met these people whether in our family, work, leisure or perhaps church. They come in all sizes, shapes and gender. So often we are told to walk away from them, to keep them at arms length or just to ignore them.
But what did Jesus tell us to do in these circumstances. He said "Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect ,even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:43-48)
So it is clear that we are to love our enemies and to pray for them as we are called to be like our Father in Heaven.
But this is easier said than done you say!
I agree, but the greatest rewards are given for doing so. God is faithful to those who act upon these instructions.
So how do we go about loving our enemies, particularly those that are toxic and are close to us either in our family or work, that we meet each day. Jesus is clear on this, we pray for them.
Again easier said than done, but Jesus never ran away from a difficult situation and he is asking us to do the same. When that person is in our face yelling at us we are caught up in their vile words. When this happens to me I call on the name of Jesus silently, and say 'Thank you Jesus for this person, I place the cross of Christ between me and these lies and I pray into the angry and hurtful words that are meant to put me down and pray the protection of your sacred blood to destroy this attack. Thank you Father that you made them and love them.'
However if the words do not come to you as you are being attacked, just say 'Thank you Father for (name) in Jesus' name help them.' Later when things are calmer bring that person again to the Father and say, 'Blessings on (name) for you love and adore them. Thank you for (name) as you made them.' This blessing and thankfulness for that person brings Christ into the situation and does not allow the devil to whisper thoughts of revenge or bitterness into your life.
If you give the situation as it arises into Jesus' hands, the devil will be confused, because you are not taking notice of his words coming out of the person's mouth. You are calling on the Greater Power, and blessing the person who is trying to hurt you. The devil wants you to respond back in equal heated anger, as he loves seeing us in battle.
When we respond with love instead of anger for our enemies, we win the victory. It might take many times of thanking and blessing the person, and only God might see the small victories that are being won in this battle, but if we do not try and enter into the world of the devils lies, we will become dis at ease, peace less and bitter. Similar to the toxic person we are fighting with.
Why does God want us to love our enemies? Because he loves them and wants us to pray for them so that they can be reunited with Him. We are his Bible and sometimes we are the only Bible that people ever look at.