The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.     Author unknown

This is a very important quote for many reasons. The author is unknown, but I have heard this many times in my life and it seems to pop up at very opportune times when things seem to be going downhill for me. The last few days I have been struggling with some demons in my mind that are apparently placed there by Satan to keep me confused and in doubt about my relationship with God. The details are not important, but the fact that they have had me doubting my status with the Lord is what is important. It seems that I have had doubts about God, doubts about my status with God and doubts about where I am in relation to God’s plan for me. Little things seem to bother me, unimportant things seem to get on my nerves, little noises and dogs barking seem to tick me off. I know these things are not important in the grand scheme of things, and they are placed there by the devil to put fear and doubt in my heart. Prayer is the answer – the only answer! Once I realized that the source of all this trouble was Satan I began to pray and it seems that the little things suddenly were not so important, and didn’t seem to bother me so much. Prayer is the answer to all of life’s dilemmas and tribulations; especially the small ones that seem to add up and compile on top of each other until you feel like you are just not able to dig out from under them. So what does the above quote have to do with all of this?

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. Be indifferent to the devil, pray about what is bothering you and he will leave you alone. Prayer is the strongest medicine against him, and he can’t fight back against prayer because the Lord takes your side every time you go to him in prayer. Resist the devil just as Jesus did as we see in Matthew 4:1-4 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Jesus was able to resist Satan in the flesh face to face, so should we be able to resist daily temptations and thoughts placed in our heads by him. Prayer is your strongest weapon against Satan and the temptations and obstacles he places in front of us daily.

The opposite of art isn’t ugliness, it’s indifference. Prayer is an art in itself. Don’t be indifferent with your prayer – treat it as a form of art and miraculous things will happen. Think about what you want to talk to the Lord about and form your words carefully much like a painter carefully plans each brush stroke before he puts brush to canvas. Romans 12:2 tells us that prayer will transform our minds and reveal what is the will of God. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Just as the Lord guides the painters hand and brush he will guide you in your everyday life and take the burden of the little things away from you, giving you the strength to carry on past them.

The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. Don’t be indifferent with your faith, keep strong, keep firm, and stay steadfast with your faith and your beliefs. The devil will try to break your faith by throwing obstacles in your path but with prayer and strong faith the Lord will help you avoid the obstacles and give you the courage and strength to carry on with his work. Keep positive thoughts in your mind, pray steadfastly and diligently and the devil won’t be have room to plant evil thoughts or place doubt in your head. 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that our prayers will be heard and answered.” And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

Don’t sweat the little things, pray about them and the Lord will either resolve them for you or give you the strength and resources to resolve them yourself.

The opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference. Life is a gift from God that we should be thankful for every day of our lives. We should give thanks to the Lord every day when we wake up and live that day to serve the Lord and do his bidding. Indifference to life would be a form of spiritual death in that if we are indifferent to life, we are rejecting a gift from God. Accept the gift that God has given you and go about your life with a song in your heart and a smile on your face. People will know from your outward appearance that you are grateful for the gift of life and happy to do the Lords work with a song of thanksgiving in your heart.

This quote is not something you should have tattooed on your arm so that you see it every day of your life, but if that is what it takes to keep us happy, keep us in tune with the Lord, and keep us focused on the path that the Lord wants us to travel then by all means, go for it. Just remember that God has a plan for you, for your life, for your salvation, and for your soul eternal. Pray regularly, pray diligently, pray fervently and pray with a happy and open heart. The Lord will bless you by taking away your problems and troubles and replace them with joy and comfort.