The Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:22)
As we come to the conclusion of our study of Romans 12 I would like to make one final observation about Paul’s quote of Proverbs 25:21-22. Interestingly, notice that Paul left off the last phrase in Proverbs, “the Lord will reward you.”
The focus on our part should be to do what is right and what will bless others, even our oppressors. If we concentrate on that the promise in Proverbs is this: the Lord will reward us. Our oppressors might never reward us or even thank us for our efforts. They might even intensify their oppression of us.
I remember trying to deal with my thoughts about someone who deeply hurt me by misrepresenting my actions and falsely accusing me. I didn’t want the bitterness I felt to destroy me, so I took a deliberate step of forgiving him.
We live on a road with a slight incline in front of our house. There have been many accidents there, especially in inclement weather. Folks have come to our house to get help and we’ve always tried responding graciously.
As I was praying about my bitterness and need to forgive I finally told God that though this man had never asked for forgiveness I choose to forgive him. To put it in tangible terms I told God, “If this man ever had an accident in front of our house I would treat him in the same way I’ve treated others in their time of need.”
That decision freed me from bitterness so I could go on with the peace of God in my heart. With that decision I was not overcome by evil, but overcame evil with good!
If you are harboring bitterness toward anyone who has hurt you determine to make a deliberate decision to forgive them in a way that God can hold you accountable.
