Friendly Enemies

1 Kings 5:1 KJV

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.

David was a man of war. His enemies included the Philistines and later the children of Ammon. But it would be a mistake to think that his purpose was expansion and victory over all his neighbors. Hiram, the King of Tyre was ever a lover of David. 

Some people fight for the sake of fighting. Their nature and spirit are mean. They entertain themselves through contention. It ought not to be so with the Christian. We are soldiers of the Lord and as good soldiers, should endure hardness. There are battles to be fought that we should not back away from. But we should never have a contentious and mean spirit. 

The world is at odds with our Saviour and we ought to take stands that are open and unapologetically for the Lord but we ought to also be pleasant enough that we win at least some of our battles through befriending the potential enemy rather than fighting him.