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. – Romans 12: 17-19
When we’re surrounded by people who treat us with kindness, it’s so easy to maintain good character.
But when we’re placed in situations where we have to cooperate with jealous, vexing, or condescending people, things can get a little more challenging.
In these cases, we must call on Jesus to fortify us with integrity and love.
Because Jesus kept a pure heart when He was being cursed at and spit on while dragging His own cross to His public execution!
So if we’ve made the decision to accept Christ into our hearts, we must be willing to embrace the call to love everyone, even when it hurts.
When others decide to treat us with contempt, we should pause and allow their ugly deeds to stand on their own.
Retaliation should never be an option when we know that God is fully aware of every attack made against us.
We must live in a way that is crystal clear to everyone observing us that we are honorable.
We have to show others that our belief in God is not for show, but that it’s real and unshakable.
And we must understand that hard-hearted people are out of alignment with God’s way and they need serious prayer.
Because there is no emotion anyone can stir within us that is worse than the tragedy of being separated from God.
So today, ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you can rise to the challenge of loving everyone at all times.
Be blessed,
Alexia
This is definitely a challenge Alexia! It is impossible to do in our flesh, I’m so thankful that with God nothing is impossible. It’s our natural response when someone isn’t treating us kindly to return the favor. I’ve missed the mark plenty of times, but I thank God for His Grace. It’s certainly a process, but we should reward ourselves along the way when we see that we have grown in certain areas.