₦airaland Forum

17/8/2010

A SLAP IN THE FACE

Read Matthew 5:38-41

38 "You have heard the law that says the punishment must match theinjury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I say, donot resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek,offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirtis taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands thatyou carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.

It is all too human to want to hit back at those who hit out at us. Wemay not be physically violent, but rather exact a sort of politerevenge on the person. Privately wishing them ill; slipping in a subtleunkind word about them; freezing them out of our circle. Jesus tells usto avoid any sort of revenge or payback. No need to get bogged down inthe literal details of his teaching, rather we get the main point.Which is not to hurt those who hurt us. Not to use the law as a coverfor the taking of personal revenge.

Of course in our society, crime is punished and the law takes itscourse. But on a personal hurt level, we are not to strike back butrather put up with the trivial injustices that may come from theactions of other people. Turning the other cheek is applied toindividuals. We might not base our legislation or our internationalrelations on it.

At its most basic level, forgiving someone is refusing to hurt them asthey have hurt us. Turning the other cheek is one expression offorgiveness. It may seem painful, it may seem unfair. But retaliatingwith another slap on the face will lead to even more pain and notactually resolve the fairness issue. By not retaliating I am decidingto break the vicious cycle of hurt and counter hurt. I am not condoningwhat has been done to me. I am choosing not to let it dominate me. I amchoosing not to respond to the hurt by another hurt.

The pain of being slapped in the face is not eased by slapping someoneelse's face. The hurt only goes when I choose not to inflict furtherhurt. A stinging cheek is a small price to pay for such an outcome.

BlessingsDavid Reay



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