Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In His great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus called His disciples to be agents of peace in this world: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. We conquer evil by doing what is good, and we win over our enemies by loving them and treating them with kindness and compassion. As Christians, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43–48). If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:39). Jesus taught, “Do not resist an evil person. Yet, such a response is prohibited to followers of Christ. Our instinctive human reaction to being wronged is to retaliate against our enemies. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.’ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good” (verses 19–21, NLT). If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. Instead, ‘If your enemies are hungry, feed them. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge I will pay them back,’ says the LORD. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. “Never pay back evil with more evil” (verse 17, NLT). Don’t curse them pray that God will bless them” (verse 14, NLT). He taught, “Bless those who persecute you. In Romans 12:9–21, the apostle Paul cited Proverbs 25:21–22 to show that we overcome evil through love and goodness. The goal of treating our enemies with kindness is to bring them to a place of conviction about their wrongdoing and, thus, cause them to repent. The phrase could have originated from an ancient Egyptian propitiation ritual in which a person guilty of a crime was made to carry a basin of burning embers on his head as a symbol of his repentance. The idea is that under the heat and pressure of applied kindness, the person will feel ashamed, regret his actions, and repent. Heap burning coals on someone’s head is an expression associated with punishment in the Bible (Psalm 11:6 140:10). Old Testament law even commanded that an Israelite return his enemy’s ox or donkey if it strayed and give aid to his enemy’s ailing beast of burden (Exodus 23:4–5). After that, they stayed away from Israel (2 Kings 6:21–23 cf. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.” This passage states the paradoxical kingdom truth that the way to deal with an enemy is to do him good.Įlisha the prophet carried out a similar kindness for the Aramean army when they came against Israel, setting food and drink before the troops and then sending them home. According to Proverbs 25:21–22, the Lord would have us treat our enemies with kindness and generosity: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
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