“Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.” (I Peter 3: 9, New Living Translation)

If we want to feel the blessings that God is ready to bestow on us, we have to give up the cursing. If evil is done to us or if we believe we are under attack, our best recourse is not angry retaliation. For then we have emulated the very behavior that we despise. We have allowed our own innocence to become tarnished by anger and blame.

It isn’t always easy to brush off another’s ugly words or actions. But we can defend ourselves with our consciousness of our own innocence and take the high road to healing. God has made us capable of blessing our enemies, of utilizing the loving hearts that He has given us, to be compassionate, patient, understanding. We can help ourselves and others by refusing to stoke the flames of argument. We can allow our natural peace and love to settle us and flow forth to others, even those who may not know as well how to be loving.

The blessing of God comes to us as we bless others. For as we love one another, we are loving the God Who made us all. We are honoring His qualities of goodness and this brings us a feeling of true well-being that retaliatory anger will never give us.

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