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(NIV)
“Terrible.”
That was my son’s answer to my question, “How was your day?”
Then, he told me about Jake*, a
boy at his lunch table who had quickly grabbed and eaten his Hershey kisses
without asking. Next, the other boys
began teasing him that Jake had stolen his first kiss.
It made for a traumatic day for
Luke, my 10-year-old.
My son was afraid the boy would
continue to grab his candy right before his eyes. This boy is considerably bigger, so it was a
possibility. And you might (or might
not) be surprised to know that this is a Christian school.
As we talked and processed his
hurt, I wanted to teach him not to take revenge. And today’s verse popped in my mind.
So I proposed a solution. The next day, I told him to take a Hershey
kiss for everyone at the table but take TWO pieces for Jake. And then, I wrote down 1 Peter 3:9 to read to
his friends.
I’m not sure that any of the boys — besides
Luke — got the lesson. But that’s OK. I think it’s a simple life lesson that he will take with
him. At least, I hope and pray that he
does.
As you know, he will face much
bigger trials as he gets older. And it
can get considerably harder to repay evil with blessings.
Has someone done you
wrong? Ask God to show you how you might
repay them with a blessing. It’s certainly not the popular or the easy way to
respond. And we can only obey this
scripture with God’s help.
Stacy
*Not his real name
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