Mensa Otabil - No Paybacks (11/07/2025)
1 Peter chapter 3:9 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. The Christian life is a very different life from our natural life. Our natural life is based on paying back people for what they have done to us, and in the Christian life, we learn that our attitudes will determine how far we go in life and how we live our lives. The scriptures affirm that God has given us the power of choice through our will, through submission to the scriptures, and through the moderating factor or power of the Holy Spirit. We are able to determine our attitudes.
So, for example, when you are insulted or treated badly by somebody else, the natural instinct will be to treat them the same way they have treated you. Now, if you do that, then you’ve put yourself at their level; but the Bible says we can treat them differently so we get different results. They insulted you; they reviled you, but you want a blessing. So the Bible says you bless them so that you can get a blessing back. We choose our responses; as difficult as it is, God expects us to choose different responses from how we are treated.
So if your boss bullies you, or if the company does not treat you well, or someone mistreats you, you can choose how you respond. You can choose either to insult back, to bully back, or to be nasty back, or you can choose, «I want a blessing,» and because I want a blessing, I’m not going to act in this negative way. I’m going to act in a way that predisposes me to receive a blessing. So the passage says when you are reviled, you bless. Why? Because you will inherit a blessing.
So, if you want God to be good to you, then you’re going to act in such a way that God’s goodness becomes your portion. Many times you’re going to meet very mean and resentful people in our world. Our world is full of them; they come from all over the place: in the family, at the workplace, in the neighborhood, in the old school associations, at school, wherever. People are not going to treat you with dignity and honor, but if you treat them the same way, it means you don’t have dignity, you don’t have honor, and you don’t want a blessing.
So if you believe you have dignity and you have honor, then you have to choose to treat them differently from the way they treated you. And if you want God to bless you, then you’re going to act in such a way that you will be blessed. So today, I just want to encourage you: take the poison out of your system. Don’t let people poison you with their bad attitudes; don’t let people poison you with their bad treatment.
Don’t be like them because what value is it for you to be as nasty as the nasty person when you think you are not a nasty person? If you think you are a good person, you are a right person, you believe that God’s blessing is upon you, and you want your life to be better, then you are going to choose different responses to wrong treatment. That is what I want to encourage you with as you go through your life: choose your actions, choose your reactions, choose your responses. Treat people well.
If they don’t treat you well, be kind; if they are not kind, be good. If they are not good, speak well of them if they speak badly of you, because what you are looking for is not from them; what you are seeking is from God: the blessing of the Lord, the favor of the Lord, and the goodness of the Lord. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I want to live as Christ did. Give me the grace to overcome evil with good. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»