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👉🏼 (Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18)
📜 ""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)
📋 It is in our human nature to seek revenge when someone hurts us badly. But we Christians are urged not to retaliate. We must imitate our Lord Jesus who stayed away from retaliation. The Apostle Peter testifies about Jesus, saying: "He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly" (1 Peter 2:23).
We must follow Jesus' example: leave everything to God. He is the perfect and just judge. The Apostle Paul was able to imitate Jesus: he avoided retaliation. He declares: "... When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure: when we are insulted, we answer back with kind words..." (1 Corinthians 4:12-13, GNT).
Paul refused to let evil conquer him; rather he conquered evil with good (Romans 12:21). Instead of practising retaliation, we Christians ought to demonstrate the Christ-like virtue of doing good to others, including those who hate us and do evil against us.
In today's focus verse, we are urged to "always try to do good to each other and to all people." We can do good to others in many ways: we can comfort, encourage, give financial help, pray for them, etc.
Don't pay back evil for evil; do good to others.
🔑 Key Lesson: God doesn't want his children to pay back evil for evil.
🛐 Meditation and Prayer: Lord, give me the grace to resist the temptation of paying back evil for evil.
📚 Further Reading: Romans 12:16-21.
◼️ The Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 33-35.