“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; And an idle soul shall suffer hunger. He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; But he that despiseth his ways shall die. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; And that which he hath given will he pay him again. Chasten thy son while there is hope, And let not thy soul spare for his crying. A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: For if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again. Hear counsel, and receive instruction, That thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. There are many devices in a man's heart; Nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand. The desire of a man is his kindness: And a poor man is better than a liar.”
Proverbs 19:15-22 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.19.15-22.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 ...