Turn the other cheek?
Forgive seventy times seven?
Watchman Nee tells a story of a Chinese Christian who used to go to great pains to pump water from an irrigation stream into his rice field. Every night, his neighbor, whose fields were lower, would make a breach in the dividing wall and drain the Christian's water into his own fields. The theft was repeated frequently.
The Christian asked his friends fro advice about the right thing to do. A fellow believer advised that Christians ought to do something more than what is right.
The next few days, the Christian filled the neighbor's fields first before filling his own. The neighbor knew his acts were evil, but he was amazed at the Christian's nonresistance.
Good won out over evil. The neighbor soon became a Christian. He had observed a higher way.
Retaliation is the natural tendency when someone mistreats us. We often aim to ignore the wrong act or to over look it in love.
Let's do more than turn the other cheek and forgive seventy times seven! If someone critizes you, speak well of them in public. If a friend ignores you, go out of your way to be kind to them.
Repay evil for good!
Repaying Good for Evil Part 2 is found here.
Linking with Courtney for the Gentleness Challenge