Category: Devotions

Turn The Other Cheek

 

"But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also."  Matthew 5:39 NASB

 

As I think about what happened yesterday, I am no longer mad about it.  It is one of those 'growing pains' you experience when you grow up–literally and in Christ.  In both Matthew and Luke, Christ tells His disciples that when someone 'slaps' them on one side, that they should turn the other side to them also. 

 

I can't even formulate any kind of lie that says I would agree to this!  I'm not sure you would either, but I know this takes growth in Christ, to learn to have the 'agape' kind of love for others…even when they wrong us.  I have never been a turner of the other cheek-er lol.  I did not have this behavior at all.  I have a little now and I know that it is a painful process to go through.  After the last week, and especially yesterday, I learned that some battles are better left lost.  For the ultimate lesson here is that we walk in love–agape, unconditional, God-love towards everybody, especially those that offend or hurt you.

For example–I'm not sure how many of you ever watched Dave Chappelle's show, Chappelle's Show.  But one of his segments was "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong." The episode in particular had a guy going out with his girlfriend to a local club.  Her ex-boyfriend speaks to her–an obvious man offense to her current boyfriend.  Now the thing to do here would have been to discuss it with her later and enjoy their night out, right?  Of course the guy doesn't ignore it and after being humiliated by both his girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend beating him up, and then being further decimated by having to move with his grandmother and her boyfriend, we see that had he simply overlooked that small incident, he would have been much better off.  Of course my description doesn't make it funny haha.  But seriously, somethings we are better off leaving alone.  By letting our prideful flesh get involved and feeding into our egos, the devil can manipulate that situation and US to his advantage.  In what could have been an opportunity for God to work in and through us, we slam the door in His face and let 'self' take over.

Walking in love towards everyone can be extremely hard.  Take it from me–EXTREMELY hard.  Because if you feel like I do, you may think that not everybody deserves to be loved on…well at least by you.  But humbling and submitting the issue before God and letting Him work through you will not only make you feel better in the end, you never know what effect or impact it may have on that person.  So turn the other cheek and suck it up, lol, because in due time you will get your 'revenge', oops I mean reward, haha. 

Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.  Proverbs 20:22 NIV

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
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The Necessary Pain of Biting Your Tongue

 

"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."  Proverbs 29:11 NIV

 

I  have learned that sometimes people have great intentions for the things they do and say to us.  And of course there are hurtful, vengeful, spiteful people out there that intend to hurt us in whatever ways they can.  But in growing in our walks with God, we, or I guess I better say I lol, learn that we must overlook many an insult or hurt.  I've learned early, thanks to a great mentor, that you have to get some thick skin and listen more because when your turn comes up, you don't want to be the fool.  Many times throughout the book of Proverbs Solomon speaks of having self-restraint and temperance in regards to our words.  Proverbs 19:11 NLT says "Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs."  Proverbs 14:29 GWT says "A person of great understanding is patient, but a short temper is the height of stupidity."  Proverbs 12:16 says "A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted." 

 

So you know I need this right now…I had to pray and pray and look for scriptures about this.  Today at work I was so angry.  I am a nice person, but I have always in the past kept to myself at work and shied away from making friends at work–primarily because I have the rule that work stays at work and it does not come home with me, including the people.  But anyway, today is a beautiful day, and I knew yesterday that it would be fairly warm today.  I decided last night to wear a dress and blazer to work.  Now I don't claim to be Donatello Versace, but I like how I dress.  Its fashionable to me, and of course I have self-respect so it seems appropriate for work.  I had a close acquaintance here to say something to me…and the entire time I was saying to myself, "I am at work, I am at work, God help me because I am at work."  Lord knows I held my tongue because the things she said seemed to question my very relationship with God!! 

 

I realized this was one of those tempting situations where the devil provokes us to act ugly and backslide…but thank God that I have been thanking God for making me into a different person.  Thank God it was not last year when this happened, or else.  To question my character, my faith, and my calling are just wrong.  The all famous scripture that came to mind was when Jesus spoke of the adulterous woman to the Pharisees in John 8:7 NASB–But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." This helped to remind me of how wrong this situation was. I was livid!  But thank God!  Because I learned and am still learning to bite my tongue and keep my reactions under control, I kept myself from getting too upset, and well at least from lashing back at her.  And according to these scriptures I did the right thing.  Now I did go to a few trusted friends not here and told them what happened, which helped me to get the anger out.  But I kept my composure and kept it together.

 

I have since seen the person and she asked me if I was okay, because she felt we had that type of relationship…WRONG!  If you feel the need to say something to someone, before you do it, please pray and ask God for the way to say it.  Namely because you don't know what type of mood that person may be in or how they will take what you say.  Words do hurt and injure a person.  It is scientifically proven that hurtful things said to a child do ultimately affect them as an adult.  Its like if you tell a child they are stupid over and over again…they grow up to believe that they are stupid.  When you submit to God everything–including the things you say, you learn that there are two ways to do everything: the wrong way and its actually a gazillion wrong ways…but also the God way.  He will order the words and how you need to deliver them.  Seek to be wise, because someone will always have something to say about what you are doing.  There will always be a dissenter or someone that does not like how you do things.  But by dying to self, and more importantly, consulting God before you react, you can be the wiser person that can overlook the wrongs that have been done to you.

 

"A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare."  Proverbs 15:1 NLT