“Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”
but on the contrary blessing,
“Contrary” means the opposite. God expects us to operate the very opposite way of how we would generally work when it comes to people who orally assault us.
“Blessing” – to speak well of, to praise, invoke a blessing upon, to cause someone to prosper, speak well of. Are you willing to invoke a blessing upon your enemies? Are you a blessing to those who do you evil and even rail against you?
1 Co 4:12, “And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure.”
PRINCIPLE:
Blessing others is God’s method of communication, even in the face of verbal abuse.
APPLICATION:
After telling us what not to do, Peter turns to what we should do. After negating vengeance in our lives, he shows us how to respond to our detractors – give a contrary blessing. Do them good. God expects us to take the guff, but he wants us to go farther — he wants us to bless them.
We do not extinguish the fire with fire but with water. Likewise, we do not extinguish verbal abuse with verbal abuse but with a blessing. We have a much higher chance of resolving the issue by taking the high road of maturity. Do you try to get even? This is hate and immaturity.
Maturity returns blessings for railing –Mt. 5:44, “Love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate you, and pray for those that persecute you.” God calls us to do the difficult thing. The source of giving blessings to others is the Holy Spirit (John 7:38).
If someone is vindictive toward us, God wants us to think about how he has blessed us. We put it in the Lord’s hands (1 Pet. 5:7).
Your interpretation of the word “blessing” is right and reminds me that in the Old Testament we are called to bless God, meaning to praise God. This sheds light on human relationships as well. Refusal to retaliate but to speak well of others is a powerful tool to create harmony. Thanks very much.
It is easy to build a wall around myself when I am abused verbally but it seems God wants that wall broken down so there is no hindrance to my doing good to that person. I need freedom and access to bless and not wall myself in.
Sharon, there is a poem that says, “there is a wall between us; it is not made of stone; the more we are together, the more we are alone.” Self-protection is the culprit that breaks down communication (as over against talk). There is a two-way street in this in that it works best when both persons slowly take the walls down. This does not happen with one-fell-swoop. If a little of the wall is taken down and the other person sees it, then they will take a step in start taking their wall down. This is a slow process of self-revelation. The more a person reveals themselves the greater the possibility of mental intimacy.