Your Spiritual Journey
Kill Them With Kindness
Kill Them with Kindness
When I was just shy of four years old God blessed me with a younger brother. Having a sibling is great. We played games together, played baseball together, and we helped each other whenever we could.
But on the other hand, it does seem like he has always had a tremendous skill for getting under my skin. I credit it to the fact that our siblings know us better than most. But it seems pretty universal to me that our siblings have a pretty easy time getting under our skin. I know that at least in my case, I would always want to get back, or get even.
Whether it’s a sibling or not, we all deal with people who irritate us. People who we disagree with on things, people who are rude to us, or people who for whatever reason we just don’t like. It’s easy to fall into the temptation to fight fire with fire. We want to get on the same level as the other person. Make them feel how they have made us feel.
17 “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[a] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 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.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:17-21
If our response to being irritated and angry is kindness and goodness, then we won’t escalate any bad situations. And better yet, we will be setting a Christ-like example for those around us. If we make a habit of reacting this way people will notice that we are behaving differently than most others do.
When people push us and get under our skin I hope we can remember Paul’s advice to the Romans. His advice is to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good.
Sean
