1 Thessalonians 5:15
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
I can remember hearing over and over when I was a kid, "Two wrongs does not make a right." It is not okay to repay someone's bad behavior with more bad behavior. I think this is probably one of Satan's favorite tactics! Even routinely polite and calm people can get pulled into impulsive retaliation. ("He deserved it!") God sees all I do. He knows my heart. When I give in to mean impulses, I am not following Christ and his teachings. I have given my life to Him. That means my whole life, and all that I do and all that I am needs to honor Him.
Lord, hear my prayer. Change my heart, help it to be clean and kind in all situations. Amen
Becky, transforming
1 Thessalonians 5:15
See that no one pays back evil for evil, but I always try to do good to each other and to all people.
In this letter, Paul gives for Church at the Thessalonica lots of advice. Verse 15 is particularly important. It seems very human thing to want to “payback” a wrong with another wrong. When we react this way, we become no better than the person who wronged us. But Paul’s advice to do good instead it’s very difficult. If we can try to follow this advice, however, we break the cycle of evil for evil.
Prayer: gracious God, I pray to always step back and not seek revenge, but to do good as best I…
Tuesday, February 7th, 2023
1 Thessalonians 5:15
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
Any of us can be tempted to “ get even” from time to time — especially if someone has seriously disappointed us, harmed us or our families or friends, or tried to hurt our personal reputation. But no matter what evil others have done to us, we must remember what the apostle Paul wrote in First Thessalonians 5:15: “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.Now that we have completed our weekly lesson on evil, there…
1 Thessalonians 5:15 Our subject this week is ”evil.” It is interesting to me that the NIV has substituted “wrong” for the “evil” used in the King James and Revised Standard versions. In general, all the modern translations have made this change. I am puzzled about this reluctance to name evil for what and who it is in our modern age. I sense a definite difference in degree between evil and wrong, but the point of the verse remains the same. Paul says the same thing in Romans. ”Overcome evil with good.” We forget this can sometimes come with a great price; martyrdom for some in restricted countries. It seems little to ask of Christians in the US to respond …