Tag: retaliation

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Because of whose you are

Barry Newton

Rude statements. Inconsiderate demands. Aggressive behavior. It can get worse. Deliberate mistreatment.

Sometimes we are the recipient of them all. Justice would seem to justify a tit-for-tat retaliation. Yet, Jesus and his apostles denounced this natural instinct. They had a very good reason. The concise and crystal clear idea they described encapsulates a perspective, a worldview, capable of transforming our lifestyle and society. Continue reading “Because of whose you are”

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Sin stops here

Barry Newton

Among the many purposes God has given his people, one of them involves preventing the further spread of infectious evil. How God’s people are to achieve this spiritual offensive might be surprising.

Whenever people suffer injustice, wherever slander has destroyed, however sin has hurt, evil’s impact entices retaliation. To succumb to the temptation only enables darkness to penetrate one’s own heart, further promulgating the spread of evil. The Christian life, however, involves being called to stop that infectious spread of sin. Continue reading “Sin stops here”

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Difficult people

Barry Newton

Jesus taught that how we handle difficult people contributes either toward our lives collapsing or remaining firm. If we have sung the childhood song about the wise man who built his house upon a rock, then we realize just how serious Jesus is in the Sermon on the Mount.

What might not immediately come to mind are the many types of troublesome people Jesus described in that lesson. Jesus runs through a familiar list of faces. Continue reading “Difficult people”