Repaying evil
- Christian Healing Mission
- Sep 25, 2020
- 2 min read
‘Do not repay evil with evil . . . ’ 1 Peter 3.9
The six simple words in this verse contain so much wisdom. At the heart of it, a practical application would be: if someone does something bad to you, don’t do something bad in return. It is interesting to note that this is a command; it is something that we are to obey, and there is good news and bad news that accompany it!
The good news is that presumably we can obey this commandment; it is actually possible to put it into practice. It would be unbearably harsh to be told to obey something we were unable to do. The reason we are able to do this is because God has poured into our hearts the Spirit of Jesus. This is the same Jesus who prayed for the forgiveness of the men who were killing him. The Spirit that was in him is the same Spirit that is in us.
The bad news is that we will at various points, in differing degrees, have opportunities to put this command into practice. Things will happen to all of us that will cause us to want to react in a way that is probably not of God. However, we do have a choice: because of the Holy Spirit within us we can choose to pause, and rather than react badly to the situation we can act in accordance with the power that God has put within us.
As you face the events of the day ahead, perhaps you know there are going to be moments when there is a real chance you will react in a negative manner. It might help to think about this in advance, and as you do so recall that the same Spirit who was in Jesus is also in you.
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