“He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: He that keepeth understanding shall find good. A false witness shall not be unpunished, And he that speaketh lies shall perish. Delight is not seemly for a fool; Much less for a servant to have rule over princes. The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; And it is his glory to pass over a transgression. The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; But his favour is as dew upon the grass. A foolish son is the calamity of his father: And the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: And a prudent wife is from the LORD.”
Proverbs 19:8-14 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.19.8-14.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 ...