The audio is distorted somewhat for the first minute, but settles after that.
The worldly person is all about fighting for, protecting, and defending their rights and self-interests. For the Christian it is about waiving your rights for retaliation and revenge. We are to deny our desire for revenge in the physical, financial, and practical realms. We become givers instead of takers. If anyone perpetrates (slap, sue, force), we demonstrate, not retaliate. They give us grief, but we give them grace, because we have been given grace. We replace revenge with ministry.
We deny our desire to retaliate physically (vs.39).People can beat us down, but God will build us up. They give us malice, we give them mercy.
We deny our desire to retaliate financially (vs.40). People can take all our stuff, but we don’t need any of their stuff. They give us trouble, we give them testimony.
We deny our desire to retaliate practically (vs.41). People can take all of our time, but they can’t take any of our eternity. They give us burden, we give them blessing. |
