COUNTERCULTURAL RESPONSE
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Romans 12:17-21 (NLT)
I want to confess something to you. More than once in my life, I’ve made the statement, I’m not going to get even. I’m going to get ahead. I know— it’s awful. I’m sure you can’t relate to this depraved way of thinking. But on more occasions than I’d care to count, I’ve fantasized about exacting my sweet, sweet revenge on others. And to push in that final 2% with you—there have been times I’ve taken that fantasy and turned it into reality. Pure spite, vindictiveness, bitterness or even hate is what it was. And this is not the way for a Christ follower.
Paul makes it clear in his letter to the Romans that revenge is not ours to take. In fact, it belongs to God. So, when we seek to balance the scales ourselves, we’re actually stealing from God. I don’t know about you, but trying to take something from God doesn’t rest well with me. We must trust that God, who sees and knows all, will ultimately set all things right in the end. He is both sovereign and good. And yet, sometimes, we feel like God is a little too patient or gracious with our enemies. You might read that sentence and realize how foolish that sounds, but it’s how we act when we decide to take justice into our own hands.
Instead, we are called to bless our enemies. Turn the other cheek. Refuse to pay back evil with more evil. We’re to be cycle breakers, ending the hate and violence that’s been done to us by refusing to perpetuate it any further. We conquer evil by choosing His way, which is deeply countercultural. The world says to look out for number one and do what you’ve got to do to make sure no one crosses you again. Jesus says to be a peacemaker. The two concepts are fundamentally at odds.
APPLICATION: Are you harboring any thoughts of revenge? Getting even? Getting ahead? Are you holding onto any deep-seated anger or bitterness? What obstacle stands in the way of releasing that and moving towards forgiveness? How can you conquer evil by doing good? Who is an enemy that you can seek to bless?
PRAYER: Father, help me to walk in Your ways and live as Your Son Jesus did. Show me how I might bless others, even my enemies. Especially my enemies. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“… Our Father in heaven…” Matthew 6:9b (NLT)
- What do You want to say to me today as my Father?
“… may Your name be kept holy.” Matthew 6:9c (NLT)
- What do You want to reveal to me about Your power today?
“May Your Kingdom come soon.” Matthew 6:10a (NLT)
- Help me make Your priorities my priorities today.
“Give us today the food we need,” Matthew 6:11 (NLT)
- Is there anything specific You want me to do with my time or the people I’m around today?
“and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
- Reveal to me anyone I need to forgive or ask for forgiveness.
“And don’t let us yield to temptation…” Matthew 6:13a (NLT)
- Is there anywhere I’m vulnerable to temptation?