This week posted by one of my Facebook friends was the
following question: "So what do you do when you REALLY want to tell
someone off who hurt you badly so that they realize the damage they've done,
but you know they won't care?"
There
were a great number of responses to this question, most of which urged the
person to pray about it or in someway turn to God about the problem. Several
people urged the perplexed person to write them a letter, so as to confront the
other person with the issue. All of the answers they received were good
answers, each with a personal insight, all involved God in the answer.
I can
relate to this question as probably each of you who read this can. Is there any
"one" right answer, probably not as long as we keep God's Word in
mind as we struggle with this question on a personal level. It’s the idea of
asking ourselves the question, "What would Jesus do in my situation?"
However, there are a couple of scriptures that come to mind as I consider this.
The
first is Romans 12:18-21, where Paul
writes, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with
everyone. 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. 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." Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
How
we treat others is not dependant upon how they treat us, but on how God would
have us to treat them. It may be that our first thought is, "But that's
not right!" "Where is the justice in that, you are just letting them
get away with bad behavior."
Understand
that if it is a matter of hurting others, breaking the law, hurting God's
church or weakening the power of God's Word, I will stand up and confront
someone. But if it is a personal relationship issue, I may just deal with it
between me and God.
A scripture that goes along with this idea is
Act 8:32-33a, where a Old Testament scripture is quoted: "This
is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: "He was led like a
sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did
not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice."
We
are told that this scripture was fulfilled by Jesus, who was humiliated and
deprived of justice. Did he have the power to require that justice was served?
Yes, but he chose to suffer the humiliation and injustice for the good of
others.
I
don't know where you are at in your spiritual life, whether you can do that of
not, it's not for me to judge. I believe that is why Paul wrote in Romans 12:18, "If it
is possible, as far as it depends on you." It could be that our
prayers for others should included the words of another scripture concerning
ourselves as the man said to Jesus in Mark
9:24; "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
He still had room for growth and so do I, how about you?
