15See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.
From the earliest teachings of Christ, we see this command not to repay evil for evil:
“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.” (Matt. 5:39)
Paul includes this in the application of his theological treatise on justification by faith:
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. (Rom 12:17a)
In one of the last written books of the New Testament, Peter echoes this:
[All should be] not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead … (1 Peter 3:9a).
The natural human tendency is to do the opposite, to repay evil done to us with something equally bad or detrimental to the person who did us wrong. Whether this comes from our pure pride or an overly self-weighted sense of fairness, the Lord makes it very clear: that is not the way of Christlikeness. Instead, we should love our enemies, as Jesus taught us (Matt. 5:44). After all, God loved us while we were still unrepentant, unbelieving sinners (Rom. 5:8), so Christlikeness means loving others while they are unrepentant sinners against us.
But wait—there is more. Not only should we all suppress the desire to do evil to those who wrong us, but we should eclipse the evil with our attitude and actions to do good to them. We are to do more than repress the reactive, knee-jerk response to others; we must proactively love them and do what is good for them.
At this juncture, many begin to react by saying that we are not to become doormats for other people to abuse us, are we? Of course not. That was never what Jesus meant by turning the other cheek. This action of doing good to our detractors or even persecutors is to come from a position of strength. God did not love us because He was weak. And He did not become our doormat. It takes great courage when we are wronged to reorient our thinking to ask what is best for the other person. Remember, we have the Lord and His Christlikeness on our side when we act in ways that emulate Him.
Lord, help me to turn my cheek in love and in the strength of Your presence.
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