ROMANS 12:21
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” – Mahatma Gandhi.
Has someone hurt your feelings? Maybe you found out somebody lied to you or about you. Were you rejected or physically abused? Well, the natural response is to be vexed when we are mistreated, and that is not wrong. But God’s Word reminds us that we should not return evil for evil or anger for anger.
In 1994, as South Africa made the transition from a government by apartheid to democracy, it faced the difficult question of how to address the crimes carried out under the apartheid regime. Imposing harsh punishments on the guilty risked deepening the country’s wounds. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “We could very well have had justice, retributive justice, and had a South Africa lying in ashes.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was established. Those guilty of crimes were offered a path to restoration – if they were willing to confess their misdeeds and seek to make restitution. Only by courageously facing the truth could the country begin to find healing.
Like the South Africans, we are called to pursue both justice and mercy. We are to love the offenders while condemning their wrong conducts. Through the power of Christ’s Spirit, we can learn what it means to overcome evil with good.
