Posts Tagged ‘motives’

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Repay No One Evil for Evil

July 18, 2011

Romans 12:17-Repay no one evil for evil but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

             ‘Think, Think, Think.”  Paul says to bless those who persecute you; Jesus said forgive 70 times 70, turn the other cheek, judge not, etc..  Scripture tells us that vengeance belongs to God.

             So many times, David’s life was in jeopardy by Saul yet David never repaid him with evil—even when opportunity placed Saul in the perfect place for revenge.

             1 Pet 2:23 says of Jesus:  “When He suffered, He did not threaten to get even”. LNT    

             I put the definition of “revenge” below.  This is not a place where we are to go.  This is God’s.  If we “get even” we are repaying evil with evil.  We are trespassing into God’s territory and that is not a good thing to do.

             We must forgive, turn it over to God to deal with, pray for the offender and quiet the disturbance within ourselves.  I have also been taught through my recovery program to look at myself, to see why I am offended…what is my root, how am I perceiving the offense—through what “truth”,  God’s or some learned childhood misconception. 

             For me to get offended, it takes a lot of work.   It’s easier just not to get offended, or to remove myself from the situation, take it to God, turn it over and leave it with Him.

  Revenge; Revenger  reMD-venj A, reMD-venj AeTr: The same Hebrew and Greek words are used to express the idea of “to avenge” and “to revenge” ( „QÁNF,or derivative; eÁkdikeÂw‰ or derivative). In English these words are synonymous in that they are both used to express the infliction of punishment upon the wrongdoer, but “to take revenge” may also imply a spiteful, wrong or malignant spirit. In the latter case, RV preserves “revenge” (compare Jer 20:10; Ezk 25:15; 25:17 is an anthropomorphism), but, wherever it is synonymous with “avenge,” this word is used (compare Num 31:2,3; Ps 79:10; Nah 1:2; Jth 13:20; Rom 13:4; 2 Cor 7:11; 10:6 RV; AV has “revenge” in all these cases). In Dt 32:42, AV “revenge” is a wrong translation. Read with RV “from the head of the leaders of the enemy” or RV margin “the hairy head of the enemy.”    A. L. Breslich

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Let Love be Genuine

June 27, 2011

Romans 12:9 begins with “Let love be genuine”.  I’ve been thinking about that.  I first was thinking about “genuine” love.  For the better part of my life, I had no idea what that was.  I knew I loved my son unconditionally; I knew I had had an aunt who loved me unconditionally, but I had conditions on every other relationship.   I also thought all others had put conditions on me.  Having grown up in a family where love was conditional, there was no other way for me to think.

Here, Paul asks us to let our love be geniune.   Even though I was born again in 1975, I didn’t understand genuine love until much later.  It was not until I was able to accept myself as flawed and accept others the same way, to let my guard down and allow others to see me, warts and all, that I was able to begin to see what genuine love is.

As it states in 1 Corinthians 13, love is not a feeling, it is an action,  a verb.  To have genuine love is to truly accept, to be tolerant and kind, to see others as Christ sees them and accept them, flaws and all.  Love is caring enough to stay true to yourself and allow others to be themselves, without conditions.

The key word in this scripture to me is “let”.  In order to “let” my love be genuine, I must be genuine.  My motives must be pure, without manipulation, intimidation, judgment, or prejudice.  It is not my job to “fix” anyone, to change anyone, to please anyone.  God as asked me to let myself have genuine love for them.

 

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