We have all experienced the pain of betrayal, unkind words spoken, and possibly even more serious hurts inflicted by someone against us. What is the natural response when people wrong us? Retaliation is often our first instinct. But is that the loving, Christian response? When someone wrongs us, God calls us not to do them harm in return. Instead, we are to do them good. Now, that sounds hard. What “good†can we do to someone who has hurt us?
Take a look at the life of Joseph in the Bible. Because Joseph was his father’s favorite son, Joseph’s brothers hated him and continually spoke harshly to him. They hated him so much that they sold him into slavery to get rid of him, and Joseph was taken to Egypt. That is a very serious offense, and, for many years, the brothers thought they had gotten away with it. Joseph was gone, and no one would ever know why.
Fast-forward a few years. A famine came to the land where Joseph’s brothers lived. They showed up in Egypt looking for food. Ah! Here was Joseph’s chance! Joseph, though once a slave, now had great power in Egypt and could imprison his brothers or require grave consequences for their actions against him. Instead, Joseph forgave them! And he met their need for food with abundance. He returned love for their spiteful sin, and his loving actions led to a restored relationship with his brothers and the survival of their entire family.
Joseph’s actions foreshadowed the radical forgiveness that Jesus gives us. We have all done wrong, but God Himself took the punishment for our sin when Jesus died on the cross. And Jesus rose from the dead, so now everyone who puts their trust in Jesus is restored to relationship with God! Though we all deserve death, He gives us life.
When someone sins against us, we can forgive them as God has forgiven us— because the Holy Spirit empowers us to do so (Romans 8:9-12). In response to evil, we give good. We act in love. We let go of anger and resentment. With God’s help, we hope and pray that the offender will repent, and we choose to retaliate with good. • Rebecca Moore
• How could you do good to someone who has wronged you? (Remember, when people hurt us deeply, forgiving them doesn’t mean we have to form close relationships with them.)
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)
Read Verses:
Matt.11.25-Matt.11.30|2Cor.5.14-2Cor.5.21
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