Bless and do not curse

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - (Romans 12:9-21 ESV)

What shall we do with this? After all, we are called to live the good news. There are many opportunities to do something other than this-to revile, to complain, to dishonor others with our thoughts, our words or our actions. I read today of a murder depicted live on Egyptian news television. The response was not along these lines-and you might say “who can blame them/us/me?” But, this passage calls for a different response-“bless and do not curse.”

I find it interesting here that God knows our spirit well enough to give us this point: in this way “you will heap burning coals on his head.” Is it in knowing how these acts of kindness will be received that our vindictive nature would be satisfied? Obviously, there is more to this passage than that. How do we reconcile the gut reaction of our inner selves with this call to “bless those who persecute” us?

Yesterday evening a friend and I were conversing about not having our attitude shaped by others, not having our day ruined by someone else’s bad behavior, even if it was directed at us-or perpetrated in our vicinity. Normally this doesn’t rise to the level of bloodshed-but of course as the news is full of violent incidents it can come to that-what does Paul say in this letter to the Romans? He says not to be “overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Here is a passage a bit earlier in Romans: (Romans 5:1-5)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

What I suggested to my friend was: you don’t have to have someone else’s bad day. What Paul says here is similar and in another instance in 2 Timothy 4:7 he says “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” It is this finishing that matters-it is this fight that matters. In the end…we need to keep our eyes on Jesus-and all else will fade out of focus. Yes, still there-but not as important as knowing Him and following Him.