"Payback"

9 “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called to that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9

The surest way to receive a blessing is to be a blessing. God not only wants us to think right, He wants us to speak right and do right. It is wrong to return evil for evil, or insult for insult. I have heard it said that the misapplication of “an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” world would be a blind, toothless world. If you cannot speak the truth in love, then do not speak. A growing attitude in our society fostered by so much “trash talk” is the notion that we posture and threaten when crossed, in anyway. Most often this retribution talk is to a third party. Such as, “If they ever do that again, I’ll hurt them, sue them, kill them, embarrass them, make them wish they were never born” kind of talk. We are just talking, but the vindictiveness of our language is over the top. We need to back down the reactionary rhetoric and deal directly with conflict or with an intermediary. Otherwise it just adds to wounds and delays healing.

I regret having done this myself. I need to be more direct. I am a peacemaker with boundaries. I am blessed to be a blessing. God can keep score. I need to keep my head, and my words, and others out of it.

With peace that passes understanding,
Pastor Fred

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