“Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that you are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”
This verse continues the call for Christians to live in harmony. The end of this verse reminds us that if we want to “inherit a blessing,” or “be blessed” we will live in harmony. The content of this verse contains the things that we will need to do to live in harmony and be blessed. First, he tells us to stop repaying evil for evil. When someone does something to offend, or hurt us, we need to refuse to repay offense that hurts us. I have to admit that this is not an easy thing to do. It is almost a natural reflex for us to “render evil for evil.” In the Sermon on the Mount” Jesus told us to what amounts to “turn the other cheek.” I learned in my ministry that when I was offended in some way to pray for those who offended me instead of fighting back. In doing this, I not only regained their respect, but I saw that some of their criticisms were valid. Man, that’s hard to do, but if we want to have the blessings of harmony in our churches, we will have to do what this verse teaches. Second, he tells us not to pay insult for insult. (“Railing” means insulting.) The nature of an insult is that what the person has said, or done, was not fair to us. Again, the human reflex is to trade insults. I know that in my younger years in the ministry that was an almost impossible thing for me to do. I had what is called “a sharp tongue.” I learned through long and bitter experience that paying insult for insult was not just a wrong thing to do, it was the anti-Christian thing to do. Folks, this takes a lot of prayer and a lot of humility on our part. Repaying insult for insult will stunt your Christian growth. Third, he tells us that instead of rendering evil for evil or insult for insult, we should bless those who do these things to us. This is a direct command of Jesus in Matthew 5:44: “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” “It ain’t easy,” but it is Christian. If you want to be blessed and be a blessing, you will not “render evil for evil, or railing for railing.” Hey, it’s in the Bible – easy or not. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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