Don't Just Pretend To Love Others

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Alan:

On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Romans 12:20

I must admit I've always been fond of this verse. In the past whenever someone upset me to a great extent, the mere thought of heaping burning coals on their head usually made me feel a bit better. Beyond that personal fantasy, it basically calls on us to be good to those that treat us so terribly. Many times we take it literally, even going overboard with our kindness, hoping one day the wicked person or people will realize just how wrong they've been to us and be devastated by it. The proverbial "Kill them with kindness"...a game that we often find ourselves playing when other methods have failed to yield satisfactory results.

In fact, this particular verse from the New Testament is a direct quote of Proverbs 25:21-22 in the Old Testament. So why is it repeated here? Repetition is a classic technique to emphasize the importance of information, so what is God trying to tell me? I've always found it Amazing how the same Bible verse speaks to you at different times and in different ways. Not long ago I was quite content with the idea of making my enemies utterly miserable with endless kindness, but how does that square with His true message?

If we look at the preceding verse in Romans 12:19, it contains another Old Testament quote from Deuteronomy 32:35. With this added repetition, it is clear only God gets to repay transgressions. Now that the plan to "Kill them with kindness" no longer works you may be wondering if it might be best to skip the whole kindness thing all together. Not so fast! Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who mistreat us. (Luke 6:27-28)

Romans 12:9 NLT reminds us, "Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good." Each and every time we keep to that, we WILL heap burning coals on the heads of our enemies. Not to repay them with harm or grief, but so God can work through us like a refiner's fire. Smelting the slag of sin from the ore, revealing the precious metal within, purifying us like gold and silver.

Blessing them with sincere kindness,
Alan

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