Today's Devotional

November 29,  2005

Subject:  When Hitting Back Is All You've Got

1 Peter 3:9 - "Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.."

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Our school was evacuated yesterday morning and amidst a most chaotic exit of 2,000 students from the building, there were fights, arrests by the police and  pretty much total mayhem for about 3 hours and then we were sent home.  In one incident, a student's shoe was stepped on as they were leaving and with that as the impetus, he exploded in anger and hit one of the other students.  I happened to be on the scene for that one and as the police officers finally cuffed the young student on the car, I thought, "what would make a person explode like that just because his shoes were stepped on?"  Of course the answer most think of is how much the kids these days spend on sneakers or tennis shoes, but I think it goes deeper than that.  It goes to our very nature.  That nature is one that renders evil for evil.

Paul talked at length about us being transformed as believers.  When we are, then we have so much more than the physical eye can see.   We have an inner peace and power that enables us to transcend the natural or physical and that's exactly what it takes when we are offended physically, emotionally or intellectually.  The boy at school didn't have that.  He only had himself and his abilities to protect "his" property.  Like this fellow, without Christ, we are incapable of blessing when we are cursed, so we return the curse.  Some people spend their entire lifetimes "returning curses" or giving evil for evil.

Understand today that we are not to fight fire with fire, but to bless because that's what we are called to, as the scripture above says.  I now see that the youngster hit back because when hitting back is all you've got, that's what you do.

Carlen