“Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, Yet will not his foolishness depart from him. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, And look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: And doth the crown endure to every generation? The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, And herbs of the mountains are gathered. The lambs are for thy clothing, And the goats are the price of the field. And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, And for the maintenance for thy maidens.”
Proverbs 27:22-27 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.27.22-27.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 ...