Romans 12: Part 22
After telling us in verse 18 to "live at peace with everyone" with the qualifiers "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you," Paul goes on in verses 19 and 20 to tell us "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”"
Don't Take Revenge
We should not take revenge. We should not take revenge. We should not take revenge.
If someone hurts us with their words, we should not take revenge.
If someone cheats us or steals from us, we should not take revenge.
If someone mistreats us, we should not take revenge.
If someone persecutes us, we should not take revenge.
We should not take revenge. We should not take revenge. We should not take revenge.
Let God (the Avenger) Handle It
God handles the avenging. God will repay each person according to their deeds. (He said that He would in Deut. 32:35) If we are mistreated because of the Gospel (not our political affiliations or our own failures to live out the Scriptures), then God will handle it. To those who disobey His commands, they will face His wrath. But before we think we are safe, we need to remember that sin is not just "doing bad things", but is also "not doing good things". So if we are dehumanizing the people at our borders, the people on the other side of the political aisle, the people marginalized by society (the widow, orphan, stranger, poor, etc.), then we will be facing God's wrath. God cares for those on the margins of society and when we neglect them, Jesus counts it as we are neglecting HIM (see the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46). The way we treat other people and the way we talk about other people, even if they are not there (which is gossip), can earn us our own share of God's wrath. He will avenge His people's mistreatment, so let us carefully consider if our actions are wracking up His wrath.
How to Treat Your Enemy
Instead of taking revenge, we should treat our enemy like, well, like we want to be treated. If our enemy is hungry, we should feed them. If our enemy is thirsty, we should give them something to drink. The quote from the Old Testament (Prov. 25:21-22) continues to say that treating our enemy well will "heap burning coals on his head". When someone treats us poorly and we respond by treating them well, then it will bother and perplex them. They might even want to know why we are helping them after the way they treated us. And that opens the door to sharing the Good News of Jesus, who commands us (in Matthew 5) to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors.
Questions to Wrestle With
Take time this week to consider:
-When are you often tempted to take revenge?
-How do you tend to avenge yourself?
-When do you leave the avenging to God?
-Which of your actions have earned your own share of God's wrath?
-Which of God's people do you tend to mistreat?
-When have you fed your enemy?
-When have you given your enemy something to drink?
-When has treating your enemy well confused them?
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
No comments:
Post a Comment