Jesus said, If my word abides in you I will abide in you. You need a tough skin a tender heart. His disciples needed to allow persecution and ridicule to “roll off their backs.” It’s not about seeking vengeance upon those who despitefully use you. Instead, it’s an opportunity to show them that the light of the love of God overcomes the darkness of sin and iniquity. Freedom is in the love of God, it is not in the bondage of hatred, bitterness, revenge and retribution. To get over the resentment bank that’s full of things that people have done to hurt us, we must learn the meaning of forgiveness.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of victimhood and to rationalize that those who have wronged me deserve my resentment and bitterness. However, unforgiveness is like drinking poison and wishing that the other person will suffer the consequences. In Matthew 5:39 Jesus said, “I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Which is the high road, to retaliate with upper cuts or to turn the other cheek? Romans says, “be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.” How can I forgive those who have wronged me? The Apostle Paul said, our example is Jesus Christ. In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. We were dead in trespasses and sins for the wages of sin is death. However, John 3:16-19 tells us, “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him[as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him]. This is the judgment [that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence]: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
Jesus said the Pharisees were a brood of vipers. In their mouth was the poison of their father, the devil. He is a liar and a thief from the beginning and they inherited a lying tongue from their father. They took the word of God and twisted it to their satanic father’s ends... to steal, kill and destroy.
Jesus Christ recompensed to no man evil for evil. He came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Amid the turmoil and confusion of the world around us, He has called us unto a higher calling ... to love with Christ’s heart behind our heart ... to humble our hearts in meekness and humility, that we may love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength to live to serve our Lord to the glory of God our loving heavenly Father.
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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