“你们听见有话说，以眼还眼，以牙还牙。” - 太 5:38

当有人伤害我们时，我们往往想以伤害来报复对方。

当你的配偶忘记按时支付账单，你会怎么做？或者当你的朋友发表了不顾及你感受的评论，或者一个司机强超了你的车，你的第一反应是什么？

也许你是那种当有人伤害你或让你为难时想要反击的人。你可能会提高嗓门儿。或者你会进行人身攻击。

也许，你不是那种容易发火的人。相反，你会以沉默回应。你不再回复短信，或者你走出房间，拒绝再继续讨论。

报复的欲望实际上基于神赋予的对正义的渴望。我们从直觉上认为，人们应该对他们所做的事情负责任。但是我们对正义的想法很容易与我们自己的愤怒和自义的感觉混淆。

在这段经文中，耶稣以一种更好的方式来引导我们，邀请我们放下报复的念头，相信神是我们的保护者。祂看见并知道我们的痛苦。祂渴望正义得到伸张。在神的怜悯之下，祂希望所有的人都能离弃罪恶，回归信仰，并在祂里面获得新生。

祷告

父啊，请帮助我把自己受的伤害交托给你，不再伺机报复。请赐给我智慧，在我感到被冒犯时，能够以耐心和同理心来回应。阿们。

马太福音 5:38-39

38“你们听见有话说：‘以眼还眼，以牙还牙。’39只是我告诉你们，不要与恶人作对。有人打你的右脸，连左脸也转过来由他打；

An Eye for an Eye

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth." - Matthew 5:38

When another person hurts us, we tend to want to do some damage in return.

What do you do when your spouse forgets to pay a bill on time? Or when your friend makes an insensitive comment? Or when another driver cuts you off? What is your first instinct?

Maybe you are the kind of person who wants to fight back when someone hurts you or makes things difficult for you. You raise your voice. You make personal attacks.

Or maybe you’re not the type to lash out. Instead, you give people the silent treatment. You stop returning texts or you walk out of the room and refuse to discuss any more.

The desire to retaliate is actually rooted in a God-given desire for justice. We understand intuitively that people should be held accountable for things that they’ve done. But our ideas of justice are easily tainted by our own anger and our feelings of self-righteousness.

In this passage Jesus leads us in a better way, inviting us to let go of revenge and to trust God as our defender. God sees and knows our suffering. He longs for justice to be done. And in his mercy, God also desires that all people would turn from sin, come to faith, and have new life in him.

Prayer

Father, help me to turn my hurts over to you rather than seeking revenge. Give me the wisdom to respond with patience and compassion when I feel offended. Amen.