“Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.”

Nothing could be more central to Christian behavior than turning the other cheek! Jesus taught it and modeled it:

Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously … (1 Peter 2:21–23, see Matt. 5:39)

If this is true in relationship to non-believers, then it should certainly be characteristic of our behavior toward believers who offend us. Put simply, it is way better to be wronged and defrauded by a fellow believer than to take him or her to court. Paul, in fact, infers that the Corinthians were invoking the ancient custom of talionic justice, “An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth…” (Ex. 21:24), which was codified in the Mosaic Law but was a common principle in the pagan world as well. The principle is this: the severity of the punishment should fit the severity of the crime. The original intent was to limit the punishment from being overly harsh or beyond what is proper. This may be an adequate principle in the world in general, but among Christians, to whom Christ has shown mercy and grace, it is not to be the primary operating principle in conflict resolution.

Paul cuts through the muck that usually surrounds the “letter of the law” approach to issues by stating a new, overriding principle, that of extending grace and mercy. True, those specific words are not used in this passage, but Christ and Him crucified overshadows everything in the Christian life. “But,” you may say, “I was wronged! They can’t treat me like that!” True on both counts. But what would Christ’s example be? Doesn’t that override what we think are our rights and what we think we deserve?

Or do we think that Christ and Him crucified is not enough? The way of mercy and grace saved us, did it not? Can it not also “save” our fellowship with believers when we have conflict? Whether we are the ones being defrauded or the ones doing the defrauding, we should remember our greater allegiance is to Christ and not to ourselves. This is extremely hard for anyone, no doubt about it. The commitment to self is indeed strong. All the more reason to focus on Christ and Him crucified.

Lord, I renew my commitment to die to myself and live for You.