By Audrey Bauman

Before you read the verses posted today, I want you to know Paul is now talking about how we treat people outside the church.   These are your neighbours, co-workers, and the folks around the country who don’t agree with your religious views.   They’re often wonderful people, just not Christ followers.  Frankly, what Paul says in these verses is not what we are seeing today in the news reports. So be prepared for a revolutionary way of thinking.

Romans 12:  13 – 21   (NLT)

“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

¹⁷ Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ¹⁸ Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹ Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;
     I will pay them back”,
says the Lord.  (Deuteronomy 32: 35; Proverbs 20:22)

²⁰ Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
     If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
 In doing this, you will heap
     burning coals of shame on their heads.” (Proverbs 25: 21 – 22)

²¹ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”

Do you listen to the news much these days? I know several people who have decided to stop watching the news because they find it so horrible. Why? Because news always seems to be about disaster, war and crimes - nothing to make a person feel like life is going well, or at least okay.

I have no problem with people talking about their views and even disagreeing with each other.

 And I have no problems with peaceful protests. I’m more concerned about the atmosphere of hate that seems to be on the rise in our world and in North America.  Polite disagreements seem to have ‘gone out the window’.

Paul gives us some very clear instructions.  Look at those first three verses.  “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!”   

Is that the reputation that Christians have?   Or are we more known for rules and regulations and judgmental attitudes?  Do we have a misplaced arrogant attitude – ‘friends of God’ who have it made?  I hope we are known for our compassion and care for others.  It seems that God wants us to live with empathy for those around us.   If someone is going through a hard time, we are to be there for them.  If someone has great success, we are to be happy for them, not jealous. I guess we are to take seriously the words from John 3: 16 – “For God so loved the world”.  That’s everyone.  No one is left out of God’s love.

Paul goes on to say that we should not look for revenge against those who have hurt us.  We are to leave any punishment with God.  That’s even harder to do than just be nice to all the people around us.  The people he asks us to be nice to are not nice people.  Yet again, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.  (Romans 5:8)    God gave us an example to follow – love people who are against us.  

But then it gets even harder.   Not only do we have to step back from people who hurt us without trying to get even, we are being asked to be very giving and helpful to those same people.  “²⁰ Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
     If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
 In doing this, you will heap
     burning coals of shame on their heads.”

Frankly, if this is what God wants me to do, I need His help big time.  When hatred and anger spews around me, I need to pray and seek God’s help to stay calm and loving.  My natural inclination is to fight back.  When I read verses like the ones today, I realize that being a Christian is not an easy task.  I also realize I need to read my Bible to understand what God wants me to do since His ways are not necessarily my natural inclination or the way our culture thinks.  Just attending church and paying lip service to faith isn’t all I need to be doing.   God is asking me to live by His standards and way of doing things.  Once I read them, it doesn’t mean I will automatically do them.  But the Holy Spirit has an uncanny way of bringing them back to my mind when I get all worked up about something.  And that’s when I need to stop and pray.  That’s when I need to discuss these issues with other Christian friends so that we can work out these principles in practical situations.  

If I were in a car accident caused by someone else, should I seek retaliation in suing for a large monetary settlement?  If someone at work was bad mouthing me behind my back, should I start telling stories about the way things really are in my opinion?   If I think someone in my family gets more attention and assistance than I do, should I argue about it, shun family gatherings? These verses really make me think about my reaction to things I think are unfair.   What would God really want me to do?

Lots to think about today.

Our song for today is Love God Love People by Danny Gokey.