In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome he sets forth in chapter 12 a list of components of behavior and attitudes that should symbolize the character of a Christ follower. Included in that list are several verses dealing with the natural human tendency to retaliate or even seek revenge against those who wrong us.
“Never payback evil for evil to anyone. …Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good”.
Peter comments on the response of Christ when he was verbally and physically abused: “..and while being reviled He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” [I Peter 2:23]. Peter is commenting on the behavior of Christ when He was being mistreated which coincides with Christ’s teaching: “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”.[Luke 6: 27-28]
Our Master models for us a non-retaliatory spirit-either via words or actions, and so must we learn to understand and absorb that same mindset of not returning evil for evil towards those who wrong us. This of course does not mean we cannot take steps to protect ourselves or our family from physical or other forms of abuse. The last verse in chapter 12 of Romans cited above is very intriguing: “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good“. What could that mean? It appears to me that the passage may be addressing two locations of evil-[1] evil outside of me, i.e. evil coming at me from another, and [2] evil inside of me, i.e. evil proceeding from my own heart. Thus, to deal with the natural but fleshly desire within me to retaliate and inflict revenge, Paul commands us to practice doing good to those who are unkind or act in evil ways toward us. Doing them good, is perhaps like a cathartic that helps “pull” or purge the poison of revenge out of my heart. Thus, it appears that if I am possessed of and retain a vengeful or retaliatory heart, I have in fact been ‘overcome’ by evil. That very evil coming at me from outside of me has triggered within me a retaliatory spirit, which is rising up within my heart and prompting me to speak back evil words or even take harmful, or at least less-than-helpful action against that other person. Sometimes our ‘retaliation’ is more subtle-instead of saying evil or unkind words back to the offender, we just avoid them and refuse to do any good deeds to them. In verse 14 of the same chapter of Romans Paul says that we are to “bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse”.
It is also possible that part of “overcoming” evil with good, may be the result from doing good to those who wrong us, i.e. we will “heap burning coals on his head”-perhaps a reference to the offender experiencing a conviction of conscience, causing him/her to cease their abusive behavior and thus the evil within him/her is now being “overcome”. There is no guarantee of course that this will come about, but at least we will have responded in a way that creates the possibility from a human perspective that the abuser may relent and perhaps even repent.
If there were such a thing as a “revenge-ometer”, that could test your own heart, what would it show, or measure about the condition of your own heart? Would it show that you have been overcome by evil?
It is so significant to emphasize the “two locations of evil-[1] evil outside of me, i.e. evil coming at me from another, and [2] evil inside of me, i.e. evil proceeding from my own heart. ” because people tend to contribute their revenges to the external evil only and therefore feel justified in doing so.
My experience of attempting to “overcome evil with good” is being sincere in having a dialogue with the offender, like not reacting to their behavior but choosing to ask questions out of pure curiosity and then listening to his or her story. It’s an act of understanding, which is indeed not easy. It takes practice.
I once heard the instruction to always do the opposite of your first inclination. By doing so you would almost always do what is right. Why? because our flesh, or sin nature wants to do “evil” and not “good”. Your commentary reflects these truths very effectively.
That’s so true! It takes patience and self control to do the opposite of your first inclination. How could one develop it into a habit I wonder?