In life, never repay evil with evil. It seems like most people usually have a preconceived idea about who we are. Without even having ever talked to someone, with time, we find out that people have already judged us. And when such people approach you, they approach you with a certain mindset. It is like in their minds, they have ideas of who you are, yet they may never have talked to you or interacted with you before.
With time, we realize how unrighteously judgmental most people are. Some will see you and avoid you, some will talk among themselves about you, some will gossip about you, some will spread lies about you, some look at you and say they can ‘read’ the person you are. The judgement seat of humans!
Who made us the judge of other people? What makes us think we are justified, in our minds, to think about a particular person in a certain way? What makes us feel justified to gossip, slander, abuse, and mistreat each other? We realize that when a person with a preconceived idea in their mind about us interacts with us, most times, they are trying to prove to themselves that their thoughts about us are true. They can take you to hell and back just to prove a point to themselves and/or their friends. Such people will test and tempt you, they will manipulate you, they will apply reverse psychology on you until they prove themselves right. In the end, they will leave you in confusion and with a lot of self-doubt, they will leave you in ruins.
People who approach you with bad intentions will do anything to prove their thoughts about you is correct. If it does not seem to work, they will apply all sorts of trickery until they achieve their selfish motives. Such are proud and arrogant, they do not want to be wrong. And so, they will try to convert you into someone you are not.
Usually, evil people think everyone is evil. As a result, if they meet someone who does not seem to be as they had imagined, they become like hunters. They will do anything within their power to cause the other person to fall. They will say anything and do anything for a season. They will put on a show. They put on masks of deception. They are dangerous people. They will tell you that you are someone that you are not, they will tell you that they always thought such and such about you and that you proved them right. They will turn back everything on you, they will blame you for everything. They will make you question your sanity. They will drive you into paths you never thought were possible. They can be likened to wolves in sheep clothing.
Then there are those who will talk good to you but behind your back, they go talking about you. They may even go to the extent of making up stories about you. They will interact with you to gain information about you and then use that against you. There are those we may think of as friends, yet, in their hearts, they are after something. They will be with you as long as they think there is the hope of getting what they want; the moment they realize it is not possible, they will turn into your worst enemies, some disappear never to be seen or heard of again.
We should always be careful, we might be sitting at the same table with people who will go on and betray us. Judas sat at the same table with Jesus, yet, he had already agreed to sell Jesus out to the enemy. Judas was there with Jesus, eating, talking, following Him, yet, his heart was somewhere else. He betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
When we talk bad about someone to others, we demean such a person in the eyes of other people. Did you hear what they did? Did you hear what they said? Have you seen their husband/wife? Then we sit and laugh among ourselves. We convert others into our objects of mockery. What do we really achieve by demeaning another person? What do we really achieve by gossiping and slandering others? What do we really achieve by abusing, mistreating, and misusing others? What do we achieve? Are we looking to achieve pleasure from other people’s downfall? When did we reach the point of hating each other so much?
We have become people who inflict pain into the lives of others. Most of the time, the pain we go through is from other people. Love has grown cold. We excel in seeking information about other people and then talking about them. We have become a lying society; some people will do something and then deny it to your face, some will say something and later deny it. It can be likened to going to court, and then the burden of proof is left to the innocent, the person wronged is told to prove that the person who wronged them actually did it; yet, the guilty is just there quiet or even accusing the innocent person.
When we get hurt in a deep way, it is easy to turn into someone that we are not. It is easy to become bitter, vengeful, full of hate and rage. It is easy to lose ourselves and start going after the people who have hurt us. Most of the time, without even knowing it, we allow other people’s sins against us to turn into sin within us. When a person hurts us and then we react with anger and rage, we fall into sin just like they are in sin. We should never allow others to turn us into someone we are not.
Let us guard our hearts at all times. If Jesus returns during the moment we are in a rage because someone did or said something, we will be left behind with them, or they may even go if they repented and we are left behind. We are to repent for our sins, we are to ask God to forgive us and to forgive those who wronged us. Forgiveness is a choice. If we want to walk in freedom and be free from offense, we have to forgive as soon as possible. With time, as we spend time with God, we start to see other people and ourselves as God sees us. We let go and leave God to deal with them as He sees fit.
It is God who settles the score.
The Bible tells us that we should never repay evil with evil, if we do that, what difference is there between us and those who do such things?
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:44-45.
If we only love those who love us, what reward will we get? We are to forgive and pray for our enemies. That does not mean that we allow them to go on doing or saying anything about us, it means we establish boundaries, it means we seek help from appropriate people and authorities. We should take care of our souls always. We should not allow roots of bitterness to take root in us, we should never give the enemy a foothold in our lives.
We should know who we are and whose we are. When we know who we are, what other people do or say will not destabilize us. In everything, we are to act in love, yet, love does not mean conforming. Love means standing with the truth even if that truth is offensive to others. The Word of God is truth. We should never allow anyone to coerce us into doing or saying anything that is morally wrong or anything that goes against the Word of God. We should never allow others to convert our lives into a practice ground for their words or actions, for their minds.
We are to test the spirits by the power of the Holy Spirit. God helps to discern.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3.
When we know that we are right with God, when we know we are doing everything in love, then, the external turmoils will not translate into internal turmoils. In the end, everyone will give an account of themselves to God.
Blessings.
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