THE LESSON

THE LESSON

READ:
Romans 12:14-21

Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
-Romans 12:21

One summer I was at a gathering of old high school acquaintances when someone behind me tapped me on my shoulder.  As my eyes drifted over the woman's name tag, my mind drifted back in time.  I remembered a tightly folded note that had been shoved through the slot on my locker.  It had contained cruel words of rejection that had shamed me and crushed my spirit.  I remember thinking, Somebody needs to teach you a lesson on how to treat people!  Although I felt as if I were reliving my adolescent pain, I mustered up my best fake smile; and insincere words began coming out of my mouth.

We began to converse.  A sad story of a difficult upbringing and of an unhappy marriage began to pour out of her.  As it did, the words "root of bitterness" from Hebrews 12:15 popped into my head.  That's what I'm feeling, I thought.  After all these years, I still had a deep root of bitterness hidden within me, twisting around and strangling my heart.

Then these words came to my mind:  "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).

We talked.  We even shared some tears.  Neither of us mentioned the long-ago incident.  God taught someone a less that afternoon-a lesson of forgiveness and of letting go of bitterness.  He taught it to me.  - Cindy Hess Kasper

Dear Lord, please help me not to harbor resentment
and bitterness in my heart.  Through the power
of the Holy Spirit, enable me to let go of  my
bitterness and forgive those who have hurt me.
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Revenge imprisons us; forgiveness sets us free.

INSIGHT
In today's reading, Paul repeats a theme he introduced in Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."  This challenge of having a proper sense of self is revisited in verse 16 where Paul reminds us not to set our minds on "high things."  Instead we should associate with the humble and resist the tendency to pride and self-exaltation.  In everything we are to keep our view of self in proper perspective.

Have a blessed evening.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace