Make sure no one repays a wrong with a wrong, but always pursue the good for each other and everyone else.  1 Thessalonians 5:16

What a profound but difficult concept by which to live, am I right?  I mean, when someone does something we don’t like or that hurts us, our primal response is to lash out, to respond in a way that allows us to “be even”.  Yet that’s not the message that the apostle Paul shares in this message.

Rather what Paul does is offer witness to the manner in which God responds to you and me, his children. He is offering the life of Jesus Christ.  In life we are going to experience times where someone will hurt us, take from us, threaten us with their words and with their actions and as a follower of Christ we are called to love, to forgive, to simply remove ourselves from the situation by walking away.

I think about the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, where he was beaten, ridiculed, and mercilessly nailed to the cross, yet what are some of the last words attributed to Jesus, “Father, forgive them…” (Luke 23:34). 

We each will face situations where people try to hurt us, to use us, abuse us, to make fun of us or undermine the hard work we have been doing.  And, the truth is, it is going to be tempting to seek revenge or repay them with evil, “wrong for wrong”, but the God we serve does not operate like that.  We are shown through Jesus that God is a God of mercy, of grace, of forgiveness and of love.  As claimed followers of Jesus Christ we need to try and respond in the ways that we have been shown.

It’s not easy and most likely we are not going to be able to do this in every situation, but we should, no, we must try.  Try to do good for each other.  Try to forgive those who have hurt us.  Try to pray for them. Try to love them.  In this way not only will you be a reflection of whose you are, but you will begin to know the peace that only God can offer.

Prayer: “Lord, be with me always and in those times when someone does something to hurt me, help me to remove myself and to respond as you would, with mercy, with forgiveness and with love.  Hold me firmly and guide me gently in your will and in your ways.  Amen”