Day 10 Responding to People Who Are Evil To Us
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:17,18
Our relationships are transformed when we are moved by the mercy of God and our minds have been renewed to grasp God’s will. We not only offer our bodies to God (12:1,2) develop a sober self image (12:3-9) and love and minister to one another in the Christian community (12:9-16) but we also find that we can serve our enemies (12:17-21).
1. Adding 12:14 which leads into what 12:17-21 has to say, Paul gives four imperatives:
2. ‘Do not curse’ (12:4)
3. ‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil’ (12:17)
4. ‘Do not take revenge’ (12:19)
5. ‘Do not be overcome by evil’ (12:21)
As in 12:14 where Paul first touched on this topic, his focus is on the way Christians are to respond to non-Christians who persecute us and in other ways are ‘evil’ to us.
Retaliation and revenge are forbidden to followers of Jesus. He Himself never hit back in word or deed and we are called to imitate Him. There is a place for punishment of wrongdoers in the courts and Paul will come to this in Romans 13. But in our personal conduct we are never to take steps to get back at those who have harmed us.
While each of Paul’s imperatives is negative (‘Do not …’), each also has a positive counterpart:
1. we are not to curse but to bless (12:14)
2. we are not to retaliate but to do what is right and live in peace (12:17,18)
3. we are not to take revenge but to leave this to God and in between to serve our enemies (12:19,20)
4. we are not to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good (12:21)
Paul’s first imperative from this passage is ‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil.’ Instead, ‘be careful to do what is right’ (literally: do good things) ‘in the eyes of everybody’ (12:17). He adds ‘If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.’ Not repaying evil will stop a quarrel from becoming more inflamed but living ‘at peace with everyone’ might stop it happening in the first place. Paul’s two qualifications, ‘if it is possible’ and ‘as far as it depends on you,’ means he clearly understood it may not be possible to stop it happening. Sometimes others are not willing to live at peace with us or lay down conditions that make real reconciliation impossible.
God loves those who love Him, those who ignore Him and those who hate Him. Learning to do the same is not easy, especially with those who show by their lives that they hate Him. Here is a pathway to follow with such people.