Retaliation
The flesh leads us to do the opposite of what the Lord wants us to do, because our flesh is selfish. When someone attacks us verbally or physically, when they lie about us, or otherwise hurt us, our flesh wants to retaliate against them immediately. Often the flesh tells us to do to them the same thing they did not us. That type of retaliation or revenge is always wrong. (Proverbs 24:29) Instead of retaliating, we need to love them and leave the retaliation to the Lord.
None of us knows all of the motives of the people around us. We can't see clearly why they do what they do. We must realize this truth and stop from jumping to conclusions about people and their actions. We must not assume we know exactly why they treated us as they did. We need to stop and pray for them, and we need to ask God to show us what to do, trusting Him to take care of the situation with His perfect understanding and judgment. Then, we do not lower ourselves to their level and open ourselves to God's punishment for the same sin we are upset with them about. Also, if we do things God's way, we have the possibility to make a friend, but if we retaliate, it is unlikely we will have a good relationship with that person whom God loves and whom we should love.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 25-27.
None of us knows all of the motives of the people around us. We can't see clearly why they do what they do. We must realize this truth and stop from jumping to conclusions about people and their actions. We must not assume we know exactly why they treated us as they did. We need to stop and pray for them, and we need to ask God to show us what to do, trusting Him to take care of the situation with His perfect understanding and judgment. Then, we do not lower ourselves to their level and open ourselves to God's punishment for the same sin we are upset with them about. Also, if we do things God's way, we have the possibility to make a friend, but if we retaliate, it is unlikely we will have a good relationship with that person whom God loves and whom we should love.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 25-27.