Killing With Kindness

The other night on my job, I was told by someone, ‘I haven’t had the nicest thoughts about you lately.  I don’t know if you recognized it, or not.  It had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me.  And I realized God wouldn’t bless me, as long as I had ill will towards you (Matt. 5:23-24). I want to apologize.’ And he shook my hand.

Whether it was sincere or not, I don’t know, and that’s not my business.  But I do know it takes courage to admit to another person that you were wrong (It seems to be easier, when we’re just confessing to God, right?).  It was the right thing to do.  It was the mature thing to do. 

Now, I did notice a general sense of negativity oozing from him, but I chose to act as though I didn’t notice (1 Co. 4:12).  My goal in dealing with this person (and others like him) was to remain consistent in the way I treat him, which was, and is, civil -at the least.  We are instructed to heap burning coals on the heads of people who wrong us by returning good for evil (Prov. 25:21-22; Rom. 12:14).  My actions were more of a testimony than any word I could’ve spoken.  I showed Who I belonged to, and I just want to thank God for using me.  Only through Christ did I have the ability not to act in the flesh when I was tempted (Php. 4:13).  Had I acted in ‘my own power’, I wouldn’t have been an effective example of God’s goodness and mercy.  And if simply obeying God’s word in love isn’t enough incentive for you, God does tell us that he’ll reward us for this (Prov. 25:22).