No Ill part 2
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour. That's from Romans 13:10. And I think its interesting that Paul wrote love as if He was a person. Because, of course, He IS a person. God is love. Jesus is God in the flesh, love in a body. God in your flesh. Love in your body. Jesus is your true identity. Love... is you. And when we come at things from this perspective, from the truth that we not only love, but we ARE love, then we can see ourselves as we truly are. Who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us. Who we are in love, which is who love is in us. What I'm trying to say, in a roundabout way, is that if love works no ill to his neighbor... that's another way of seeing WE ought to work no ill to OUR neighbors. And not only ought to, but--watch this closely--don't have to. We don't have to retaliate. We can turn the other cheek. We don't have knock people down to make ourselves look tough. We don't have to climb over people to make ourselves look big. Remember meekness? Meekness is not weakness. It is strength under control. Doing what is necessary, but doing it quietly, without drawing attention to yourself. And that's kind of the "going the extra mile" portion of this program. No only working no ill... but actively working goodness. And I know "good" and "evil" have almost become four letter words in the religious community. But I also know Romans 12:21 says, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." You can't fight fire with fire. You have to understand that God is the consuming fire and that we heap burning coals on people's heads, not to burn them to death, but to melt their hearts. If your motivation is punishment, I think you may have missed the point. Its supposed to be about correction and restoration. I've noticed that when you give someone a chance they often rise to the occasion. But if you squash someone--punish them, beat them into the ground, kick them when they're down--they harbor bitterness and resentment. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Train up a child in the way he SHOULD go. Encourage people. Edify people. Build them up instead of tearing them down. And, listen, I know correction doesn't always feel good. But it leads to good. All things work together for good, right? They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Love has a neighbor, because love is you... and you have a neighbor. So don't try to get one over on anybody. Don't try to "get" anything at all. It seems to baffle people when I tell them I don't want anything from them. Especially when they're trying to offer to scratch my back in order to get me to scratch theirs. And I'm like, "Listen, if you need something that I can give... its yours. I don't want anything from you." Blows people's minds. Doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. But that's love. Seeing a need and meeting it. Working no ill. Overcoming evil with good. Going the extra mile. Not trying to do something in order to be something. But doing charity (love in action) because of what we be. We are loved. Which means we can love. Because we are love. See the people in your life as your neighbors, your friends... your loved ones. And treat them accordingly!