“He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: And the rod of his anger shall fail. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; For he giveth of his bread to the poor. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; Yea, strife and reproach shall cease. He that loveth pureness of heart, For the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, And he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: He that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.”
Proverbs 22:8-14 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.22.8-14.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 ...