Good morning,
Don’t repay evil for evil.
Have you ever wondered about Noah’s reputation as he kept working on his crazy building that seemed to be super big, super expensive and super stupid. Who ever heard of building a boat that size on dry land? Not only that, he kept on working at the project year after year and kept talking to them about following God’s plan for his people. Noah also had the nerve to kept warning them that the way that they were living was evil and that God was really angry about their rebellious life style. I wonder what his evil neighbors were saying about what he said and how he lived? Jesus pointed out that when he would come back again, the world would be living and acting like it was in the days of Noah. If we are paying attention to the news, I believe that we are living in the same kind of spiritual rebellion that Noah faced in his day. What did Noah do in the face of that kind of treatment? The Bible tells us that Noah was righteous, blameless and walked in close fellowship with God. (Genesis 6:9) If Noah was that kind of guy, what did he do when he was insulted and treated like an evil man?
Jesus gave us a word picture when he told his disciples, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Peter addressed the same issue when he warned God’s family, Don’t repay evil for evil. If we are going to walk close to God, live a righteous life and be blameless in God’s eyes, we dare not respond to hate and evil the same way the world around us acts out their anger toward us. Jesus made it very clear, For you will be treated as you treat others. What Jesus said does apply now in time, but the most sober part of what he said was, The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. Are we aware of the fact that when we accuse the people around us we are following the pattern that Satan uses when he attacks the people around him? When we become accusers of others now, we invite the same treatment ourselves. In this world what people say isn’t the bottom line, but what if what he was telling us was what he, the judge of all mankind, would judge us that way as well? Peter, who knew great suffering, tells us, Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. Even our enemies don’t need another accuser. What God calls us to do can only be accomplished when the Holy Spirit speaks through us with the power of a loving God who is never controlled by any evil person or evil force. What God calls us to do and what he will bless us for, is that we will look like Jesus and not just like another fear driven person.(1Peter3:9) Please Lord, help us to respond like you.
Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
Roy Wisner
