Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. … If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14, 18-21)
This passage reminds me of a time when we had church conflict, and a few leaders were discussing what to do about it. One suggested harsh punishment for the people who were acting up. That didn’t sound right to my husband and me. We suggested a more peaceful way of dealing with these members, only to be told, “That’s okay for the Bible, but this is the real world, and we have to be realistic!” I was horrified.
Because what the Holy Spirit is saying in this passage is realistic—in fact, it’s about as practical as you can get. We all know that meeting violence with violence just prolongs the conflict. Every time someone gets hurt, they hurt someone in revenge, and the whole thing spirals out of control. There’s only one way of short-circuiting that kind of feud, and that’s to follow Paul’s advice: refuse to avenge ourselves, and let God handle the matter. In the meantime, we do good to our enemies as far as we have the opportunity. It tends to freak them out.
But will it work? Well, it depends on what you mean by “work.” It may not stop your enemies from trying to harm you; in fact, they may decide you’re up to something nefarious, and try even harder to hurt you. But it will certainly make them think. And sometimes that plants the seed of the Gospel in their hearts, and you see it come to fruit even years later. They finally get up the courage to ask you, “Why didn’t you harm me when you had the chance?” And then we can tell them about Jesus.
Because Jesus did it first, didn’t He? Human beings were the ones who rebelled against God and went our own way, in spite of God’s lovingkindness toward us. And yet, God didn’t leave us to destroy ourselves. He came looking for us. He was born into this world as a human baby to become our Savior. He allowed us to express our enmity to God through all the horrible things we did to Him—from betrayal to beating, from mocking to crucifixion. And He took all those evils and destroyed them at the cross.
Now anyone who wants to can be at peace with God again—no, much better than that, a child of God! When Jesus rose from the dead, He opened the gates of heaven to us. The records of our evil that stood against us are gone. If we let Him, Jesus will bring us home with Him as His brothers and sisters—our past forgiven, and our future full of love.
WE PRAY: Lord, I want this for myself, but I can’t do it on my own. You do it through me, please. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions: