Romans 12:17-21 NLT “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the Lord. Instead, if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
These verses remind me of the age-long saga of The Hatfields and The McCoys. Their hatred consumed, spread, contaminated, engulfed, perused and destroyed. I have read about these families, and the anger, bitterness, and fighting were the legacies passed down through the generations.
I’m not going to break this scripture down as it reads pretty straightforward. We as children of the Lord are asked to turn the other cheek, to set and be the example. We are asked to do things and to be seen doing the honorable. Again, we are Christ’s examples.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I quote, “vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord!” I have learned to let God fight my battles! If someone hurts me, attacks me, is against me I turn it over to God! Please don’t misunderstand; I handle my business, but I don’t allow people to disrespect me, but I also don’t want spiritual law to come back around and bite me…so, I just let God handle it.
Instead, if your enemies are hungry, feed them…it’s the same thing as not adding fuel to the fire. If someone is mean to you and you continue to treat them kindly pretty soon, you start to see a different person evolve, possibly someone who has been hurt so often in life they have layers of protection around them. It’s pretty hard to continue being mean to someone who is just always nice to you!
I will be honest; this is one of the Lord’s commands I struggle with…I have some people in my life who have hurt me, and I have walked away; I’ve grown enough to not have ugly thoughts towards these few, and I wish no harm upon them, but I have left those hurts to God, and he is in time healing me! They, on the other hand, still sit and spew within their anger! But do I want to feed them? Not really! Not yet anyway!
These instructions are among his most challenging as our natural response is an eye for an eye; however, we can get much farther with kindness! I hope today resonates somewhere within because when you can learn to let go and let God, you will find it’s much more peaceful inside ☺️
Thank you for joining me, and may you have a most blessed day! 🥰
Sunshine On My Shoulder 