A hard pill to swallow

Scripture Read: Romans 12:14-21 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

Application: How many times have we seen evil appear to triumph? We should hate evil, but what should our attitude be toward those that do it? The first word in this section of scripture is a hard one to not only swallow but even harder to do! This is the real challenge for many of us – especially those that sense injustice so deeply. The absolute injustice done by people in power today … makes the blood of many of us just boil. We want to call down upon them so much from You Lord. Yet, if we are honest, we can see the fine line Jesus drew. He always warned as He pronounced their evil. He did “call a spade a spade” but he was motivated by love and desired them to turn and escape judgment. Do we warn? Or do we want judgment and want it now! The word used here is clear - Bless - εὐλογέω eulogéō; from eú, good, well, and lógos, word. To bless, speak well of. ^[1]  No ambiguity! Father this exposes a heart that is not one with You. Forgive us  and help us grow in Your compassion. Just because we do not understand how this works does not mean we cannot do it. This is a must and can only be produced by the Holy Spirit – therefore we need to lean on Him when these emotions fill our heart. We know it is ok to hate evil – but we are not to hate the one doing it nor desire their destruction. We know we can pray in general against those that are enemies to You but we are not to make it personal. This is difficult Father – Help us. We love growing in You!

 

* Meditation Questions: Have you made a list of your enemies and continue to pray for them? When you think of how wrong a person is, or how bad a sinner they are, what do you do? Do you ever look in the mirror? Why is that important? We should hate sin, but when we look at sinners what other qualities of God should we look at?

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Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.