Not My Initial Reaction - Day 216 Month 8-3 Week 31-6
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
2 Samuel 13:24-14:20, Proverbs 15:1-11, Ezekiel 19, Romans 11:28-12:21
Not My Initial Reaction
“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:19 and 20).
Who is that person who has wronged you?
Maybe it is someone who scammed you on Facebook Marketplace. Maybe it is someone who stole your identity and charged a lot of money to your credit card. Maybe it is your next door neighbour who cut down your tree. It could be a coworker who took credit for your idea or lied about you to the boss to make themselves look better.
I don't know about you, but my natural response to any of those situations is to get even.
Paul, quoting from Deuteronomy 32:35 and Proverbs 25:21 and 22, says that revenge is not ours to pursue. Instead, we are called to respond to our enemy with good.
So let's take the example of a coworker. This is someone who does not like you, and quite honestly, you don't like them either. They are the coworker who tattles on you. They make sure the boss knows how much better of an employee they are, while it seems that everything they do is intended to make you look bad. They simply seem to have it in for you.
Paul's response is basically this: don't try to get even. It isn't your job.
If that coworker forgot their lunch, go across the road and get them a flatbread pizza. If they normally drink coffee, bring them coffee exactly the way they like it. If they are stuck on the side of the road, stop and help them instead of speeding past just so they know you saw them.
It doesn’t mean their actions are acceptable and it doesn't mean you can't establish boundaries or deal appropriately with harmful behaviour. It means you refuse to repay evil with evil, choosing instead to repay evil with good.
Your goal is to leave the response to their actions in God's hands, while following God's lead and direction. However, sometimes there are other unexpected results.
When someone consistently receives kindness from you instead of the retaliation they expect, they may begin to wonder why. Maybe you eventually have an opportunity to talk. Maybe you discover that there is a story behind their behaviour. Maybe they have been bullied themselves or are dealing with something you know nothing about.
Or maybe you never find out. Either way, you are still called to do what is right.
Paul isn't telling us to be kind to our enemies because kindness is a clever way of getting revenge. The "burning coals" aren't a strategy for making our enemies suffer. The point is that returning good for evil can bring conviction and may cause the other person to recognize the wrong they have done.
It comes back to the two greatest commandments, doesn't it? What are they? Love the Lord with all your mind, heart, and soul, and love your neighbour as yourself.
When you respond to evil with good, you are actively loving your neighbour. Your neighbour can be a friend, an enemy, or someone you have never met.
The command is simple. Just love them. When we love our neighbour, we are reflecting the character of the God we claim to follow.
That may not be my initial reaction, but maybe that's the point.
Have a great day!
Steve
You can subscribe to this blog and receive an email each day or week. Just visit the following link. https://follow.it/my-faith-view-from-here-daily-readings-and-thoughts?leanpub
Comments
Post a Comment