“To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.” Luke 6:29
We love a good fight - maybe because we are so fearful by nature. We often think someone is trying to get over on us, or we believe our integrity has been impugned. We always certainly feel we are in the right, and when we are shown we might not be as right as we thought we often dig our heels in deeper. At that point, it’s often “Katy bar the door.”
Jesus tells us that this does not have to be so. Jesus calls us not to escalate problems that could in other ways be mediated. Slights and misunderstandings do not have to lead to conflict, if people would just take a step back, which I must admit is a skill that is learned. I do not think we are born with it. Nevertheless, it is what Jesus calls us to when he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”1
In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther takes up a similar theme in his explanation of the Eighth Commandment against bearing false witness. “We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way”
Often when we are angry we say and do things we would not otherwise say or do. We often want to impart the worst motives to our neighbor’s actions. It is at those moments we need to recall the words of Solomon, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”2
Prayer: Lord God, help me to have peace in my heart so that when I am confronted with conflict I might act with forbearance, patience, and grace rather than acting out of anger, fear, or self-righteousness. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Matthew 5:9
Proverb 15:1