Romans 12: Part 19
After Paul writes that we are NOT supposed to be conceited, he goes on, in the first part of verse 17, to tell us that we should "not repay anyone evil for evil."
This is hard. It is human nature to lash out and attack when we are hurt. If someone wrongs us, either through their actions, words, or some other means, then we want to hurt them back. However, merely getting them back is too light of a retribution. We want to escalate things and get our revenge.
Yet we are commanded here not to repay anyone evil for evil. Parts 22 and 23 will return to this theme as we finish up this series. If someone wrongs us, we aren't to treat them poorly too. If someone hurts us, we aren't to hurt them back. If someone gossips about us, we aren't to spread lies and rumors about them.
Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount, that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. If we insist on repaying people evil for evil, then we are not following Paul's or Jesus' commands. In this case, our human nature is fully opposite of how we are called to respond to those who do us harm. We can either respond as Jesus commands us to, or we can respond according to our human nature. We can't obey Jesus AND get our revenge.
Questions to Wrestle With
Take time this week to consider:
-When have you been tempted to repay someone evil for evil?
-Do you want to repay evil for evil when someone's actions harm you? Their words? Something else?
-How does your human nature resist Jesus' and Paul's teaching?
-Do you normally give in to your human nature or follow your spiritual nature?
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