Respond with love

Friday 1st March 2024

‘Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult.’ 1 Peter 3:9 NIV

Some of the negative people in your life lack intimate relationships. So, they keep others at arm’s length, rarely share their feelings, and are uncomfortable with those who do. They find it easier to condemn than to accept. Their hard-and-fast views make them inflexible. Often, these people can’t handle freedom. They need rules that limit their choices, and they only feel secure within their own boundaries. Understanding that will help you deal with them the right way, which is to ‘take the high road’.

Peter gives us the rules of that road. (Interestingly, this is now the older, mellower, more spiritual Peter, not the one who whipped out his sword and chopped off the ear of the high priest’s servant.) ‘Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”’ (1 Peter 3:8-12 NIV). So, the word for today is – don’t retaliate; respond with love.