By David ReayTuesday 1 Sep 2020LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
Never pay back a bad turn with a bad turn or an insult with another insult, but on the contrary pay back with good. For this is your calling—to do good and one day to inherit all the goodness of God. (JBP)
“To pay back good with evil is devilish; to pay back good with good is human; to pay back evil with good is divine.” Not a bad way of understanding texts like this.
We might add to that quote that it is also sadly human to repay evil with evil. Our natural instinct might be to hit back at the one who has hit out at us. The problem with such a reaction is that it merely aggravates the problem.
You hurt me, I hurt you, and you then hurt me back. The cycle continues and even escalates. Old feuds corrode our perspective and are like a ball and chain around our ankles, preventing us from moving forward with any boldness.
For the follower of Jesus, paying back evil with good is the task laid on us. We are not to be content with merely putting up with a hurt. We are to somehow do the seemingly impossible thing and seek the good of the one who does bad to us. This does not excuse or legitimise the bad thing, but it means we are not the ones to seek revenge.
All very unnatural. Which is why we need all the supernatural help we can get.
Blessings
David