Give Thanks for Your Adversaries

Daily Scripture Threshing for Today, Saturday, November 15, 2025

Today's Text: Matthew 5:43-45

Key Verse: Matthew 5:44 (KJV): "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

Since yesterday, the Lord began to call us to a level of gratitude that transcends our comfort. We started with gratitude in adversity, now we're graduating to gratitude for adversaries. The Lord surely wants us to pray for those who oppose, challenge, or misunderstand us is the same as give thanks for them considering Jesus's model of prayer, which is always preceded by thanks to God, and seeking His will. Adversaries, however painful their presence, are not accidents in our journey but instruments in God's refining hand. Our Lord Himself endured rejection and hostility, yet from that place of apparent defeat, God brought forth redemption.

When we look at our adversaries through the lens of God's purpose, we grow from resistance, and our character is honed by tension we did not choose yet cannot avoid. Thanking God for adversaries is a radical act of trust. It confesses that God is sovereign in every circumstance—not only blessing us through friends, but growing and proving us through foes. Adversaries stretch our patience, teach humility, and reveal the depth of God's grace at work in us. By responding to opposition with gratitude, we align ourselves with the very heart of Christ, who sought the transformation, not the destruction, of His enemies.

Gratitude for adversaries transforms the battlefield into holy ground. Hatred is softened, bitterness broken, and our dependence placed squarely on God’s sustaining power. Through prayer for those who contend with us, we find freedom from resentment and open ourselves to the surprising work of reconciliation and spiritual growth. Instead of seeing adversaries as roadblocks, we begin to view them as signposts—directing us deeper into God’s love and mercy.

Why give thanks for your adversaries? Because every challenge, every difficult person, is an opportunity to advance Christ’s kingdom in our hearts and in the world. Adversaries become teachers—shaping us into bolder, wiser, more compassionate disciples. Rather than shrinking under opposition, we give thanks that God is strengthening us for His purposes, reminding us that triumph is not in defeating people, but in overcoming evil with good.

For followers of Jesus, thanking God for adversaries is essential. It dismantles our pride, deepens our dependence on grace, and bears witness to the hope within us. Let our lives display gratitude—not only for peaceful days, but for every trial that sharpens our faith. God’s goodness is revealed not just by what He removes, but by what He empowers us to endure. May thanksgiving fill our hearts, even when adversity is the teacher at hand.

Action Steps: Take time today to remember those who have challenged, opposed, or hurt you. Lift them before God in prayer, asking for blessings over their lives. Thank God for how these experiences have shaped your walk with Him. Commit to responding to adversity with love, patience, and gratitude, bearing witness to Christ in all circumstances.

Quote for the Day: "As believers, our adversaries are sometimes the hammer God uses to forge our spirit—This is a call to give thanks for the shaping, not just the smoothing." (Simon Olatunji #quotablequote)

Let Us Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, You are always merciful to me. I am thankful for these adversaries on my path, who have tested and strengthened my faith in You. Please help me, Lord, to see Your hand at work in every trial I face, and to love people as You love them. Grant me courage to bless, patience to endure, and gratitude for every lessons adversity brings my way. Please help me, Lord, to walk in Your victory, displaying Your love to all, friend and foe alike, in Jesus's name. Amen.

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Thank you for journeying in faith and thankfulness. For more encouragement, read: Romans 12:14-21, Luke 6:27-28, James 1:2-4.

With all my love and prayers,

Simon Wale Olatunji, Ph.D.

Your Darling Bishop (DaBishop)

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