| 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 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 12:19-20 |
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| If you’ve been to the house, you know that our cat, Ezekiel (or Zeke as we lovingly call him) is a fiery feline. When he meets you he knows pretty quickly whether he likes you or not, and he has a lonnng memory. But Zeke is actually a very loving, loyal and protective bodyguard – er – cat. In the beginning he would scratch and hiss, growl and run from me. But I kept feeding and petting and stroking him, until he realized that, at my core, I was there to care for him. Now I get nothing but love from him (ok, and an occasional nip!).
I think verse 20 is very instructive for us today, particularly those who have people who continue to find ways of abusing our friendliness, or mistaking our kindness for weakness. The Lord says revenge is not for his children – for we may not do it right. It is for the heavenly realm (Deut. 32:35). Our revenge is practicing the love of God in our actions. Sometimes it will change people, sometimes not. But all the time our godly behavior will please God…
O God, teach me to be more like you, and help me to not let my feelings and attitude get in the way of allowing Your love and holiness to flow through my life. In Jesus name, AMEN
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God bless,
Rev. Jeffrey Brown |
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