I Know You Are But What Am I?

OCTOBER 16, 2020

Matt Yamamoto, Director of High School Ministry

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. “ 1 Peter 3:9 

It is unbelievable. The presidential election is only two and a half weeks away. At the beginning of the year, I found solace in the fact that the elections felt so far away. I can’t remember a presidential race being so emotionally charged. There have been moments when both candidates have done or said things that has caused me to cringe. Our nation feels like it is sitting on top of an emotional powder keg, and it doesn’t matter who you are supporting, the prevailing attitude is that the world is going to end if the other candidate wins. 

Next week’s second presidential debate has been canceled. Having watched the first one, a part of me is glad that it is. The bickering and bantering between the candidates made the first one unwatchable, and it became apparent to me that this is the now the way of the world. 

It became evident that our society tells us to repay insult for insult, and when someone is yelling an insult at you, the appropriate response is to yell an insult back even louder.  

This is not the way of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We find the perfect example of such in Jesus being beaten and on the cross. The Roman soldiers and one of the criminals who was hung next to Him all took shots at Him, insulting Him and His kingship, and Jesus’s appropriate response was to bless them with the gift of forgiveness.  

 As astonishing as this might be, God commands us to do the same. Peter relays to us God’s direction and hope that we would repay evil with blessings. A well-timed, sincere, un-sarcastic compliment or kind act is what would honor Jesus and His love for even the one who is insulting us in the moment. It might be hard to swallow, but even that person is a cherished child of God who deserves His love and forgiveness. The hard part is that they will never understand that without our involvement. 

 I look forward to a world where evil and insults are but a fleeting memory, but until then, we, as Christ-followers, get to shine and stand out when we choose not to follow the way of the world but instead follow the way of the Lord, blessing those who would do evil and insult us. 

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