“A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: But he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised. He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better Than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: But he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. The wicked desireth the net of evil men: But the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: But the just shall come out of trouble. A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: And the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him.”
Proverbs 12:8-14 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.12.8-14.KJV
Undeserved Mercies
When someone hurts you or, worse, hurts somebody that you love, revenge can seem appealing. After all…
They were mean.
They were selfish.
They talked behind your back.
They broke a vital promise.
They lied about you.
They criticized you.
They ignored you.
They did the unthinkable.
They walked away.
They deserve to be punished, right? To feel some of that same pain? They deserve a consequence that will not only help them learn, but will be just as severe as the inflicted wounds.
And yet—because God sees things differently, both His standards and tactics can be surprising. And that’s why the apostle Paul, writing to the believers in Thessaloniki, said:
“See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.”
1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT
Paul’s words sound a lot like Jesus’ words—to love your neighbor as yourself; to do to others what you’d like them to do to you. (See: Matthew 22:38-40)
God’s ways ...