Got Fruit ?

1 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
Not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing: but contrariwise blessings: knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

The past few days worth of devotionals have been over 1 Peter 3:1-9 which Peter wrote giving instruction to husbands and wives. The theme has continually been one of how to treat one another (within a marriage) in a Christ like manner. Today is actually about the 10th day of studying 1 Peter 3; and I was definitely getting that attitude of “OK.. alright already… I get it!” I was thinking to myself that there couldn’t be more to know or learn. WRONG! Once again, I was surprised at the revelation of my own personal shortcoming of God’s grace.

About 6 months ago, I had a falling out with a lady that I at one time had a relationship with. As a result of the falling out, I spent several months in turmoil. I was hurt and angry. I was on the verge of letting the hurt turn into bitterness in my heart. By God’s grace however, a few things were going on in and around my life that prevented me from becoming bitter and having my heart hardened.

The first thing that was going on is, that for at least 3 months, or so it seemed; the Sunday morning sermons at my church were on topics covering forgiveness, un-grace, & God’s grace. I’d leave service every Sunday knowing that the message was for me, because I was experiencing the same things that were preached on.

The second thing taking place in my life was that I had become even more devoted to getting into the Word on a daily basis. By doing so, I was letting Christ transform me; renewing my mind and spirit to be in harmony with his agenda versus my own agenda. Still, there was reluctance, hence the turmoil.

I explained the past few items because it was having a daily relationship with Christ that had enabled me to finally be able to see past my own perceptions and feelings, and to forgive the lady. The end result was gaining peace with God and with the lady that I had the falling out with.

As I read the devotional “Do Not Render Evil For Evil or Railing For Railing“ (Sparkling Gems: Rick Renner) [1 Peter 3:9], I remembered back to the day of the falling out and how I had reacted to some disappointing news that I had received from the lady. I didn’t respond in anger to her and I didn’t say or do anything with malice, not intentionally anyway. I spoke truthfully about how I felt , but, in doing so I did in fact hurt her with what and how I said things. Intentional or not I had rendered “evil for evil“. This realization of what I had done came after coming to understand the word “evil” from the Greek context.

LOIDORIA is the Greek word for “evil“; which pictures a person who feels (whether or not those feelings are based on actual truth) that they have been ill-treated, misused, berated and abused. The person then considers them self:

• victimized
• oppressed
• mishandled
• violated
• defiled
• imposed upon wrongly
• debased
• humiliated

LOIDORIA (evil) projects the idea of insult, injury, hurt and damage.

So, as I said earlier, intentionally or not, I had reacted and returned “evil for evil” by my words. By the grace of God however, there were spiritually positive things happening in my life, and of course the Holy Spirit convicting me to get past my own hurt; to instead make things right between the lady and I, by making the first move to resolve the conflict between us.

Finally about a month ago; after a Sunday sermon on “Breaking the Cycle of Un-Grace (Yancy Phillips), I was moved to make things right. I was going to send a simple card to the lady with a note of explanation and apology to her. I needed to contact her mother for an address, and in doing so, the lady was the one to answer on the other end! We talked, and settled our differences which we came to find out were the result of faulty communication and misunderstandings.

What I’ve taken from this experience is that I have shortcomings that can only be addressed by the power and grace of Christ. The past 20 plus years of my life were spent not knowing Christ and assuming that I was “OK“, that I could be alright living by my own standards of conduct. I’ve come to realize that my sense of “being a good person” falls way too short in the eyes of the Lord and that I do need Him on a daily basis in order to be and do what is righteous by His standard.

Grace and peace be with you.