Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Peter 3:8-9 (English Standard Version)

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

Peter is writing to Christians. This is one of those verses that I should burn into the wood of the front door or the sheet metal on my garage door so that I see it everyday.

Christians are called to B L E S S.

That seems simple enough, so much so that Peter contrasts it with what other folks do: evil for evil and reviling for reviling. (When was the last time you heard someone say, “They reviled us! Let’s revile them back!”) Those things sure seem like fun at times, but they are for others, not for us.

Regardless of ego and pride and all those things that tug at me to do the e4e and r4r (I think I just invented some hashtags) let’s concentrate on called2bless (hey, invented another hashtag? No, just checked, that one exists already).

Enough levity. Getting even should be foreign to me. Please God, help me rid it from my life.