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1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.
In our flesh, the natural response to someone mistreating us is to respond the same way or take it to another level. If they lied on us, our flesh wants lie on them or confront them verbally or physically. If a spouse cheats on us, our flesh wants to show them how it feels to be cheated on. If someone cuts us off driving, we want to cut them off which leads to road rage incidents.
God’s word instructs us not to pay back evil for evil. Our response to evil should be good. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can help us accomplish this goal. When we want to react to their evil, we need to say, “God help me.” The Holy Spirit will go to work and provide ideas on how to respond. It WILL NOT make our flesh happy, but it will satisfy the will of God.
The Holy Spirit may have us pray for them, He may have us buy them a meal, or He may have us remain silent. The Spirit may have us listen to more messages on forgiveness or say out loud “I forgive them.” Once again, our flesh won’t like it. It wants them to feel our wrath so they’ll never mistreat us again, but that’s not what God desires. His will is for them to experience His love through us in order for them to turn from their wicked ways (Rom. 2:4).
When people do us wrong, let’s respond in love and do good. It’s not fun to our flesh, but it’s beneficial overall.
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