9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12)
Lists. This one is almost twice as long as the Ten Commandments, and, in a sense, goes deeper. Rather than six commands having to do with our relationship with those around us, we have many that reach into our attitudes and motives. Yet Paul rattles them off without any explanation, until we get to the last one. "Never avenge youreselves." Here, he thinks, we need a little counter-cultural explanation and encouragement. Since righteousness is a big character quality for God's people, we can become the righteousness police, finding reason to wish, and may nudge along, judgement and punishment to those we think have been less than righteous - especially toward us. To keep us from doing so, Paul instructs us to go overboard the other direction: do all we can to show love, forgiveness, and kindness to such persons, so that we do all we can on our part to restore them. That is counter-cultural! The thing is: by the time we go through the rest of the list, and seek in Christ's strength to live that way, we realize that this last, toughest, and almost incomprehensible "law" is in fact possible after all, through Christ Who strenghtens me...
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