There may be someone whose name changes the way your body feels.
You are getting on with your day, then you think of them. Your shoulders tense. Your chest tightens. You remember what they said, what they did, or what they failed to do.
Romans 12:20 gives us a difficult response. If an enemy is hungry, we are to feed them. If they are thirsty, we are to give them something to drink.
This is more than avoiding revenge. It is active goodness.
We see it lived out in 2 Kings 6. An enemy army falls into Israel’s hands. The king expects permission to kill them. Instead, Elisha tells him to give them food and water. Israel prepares a feast, and the soldiers return home.
A meal reaches somewhere an argument cannot.
This does not mean that we ignore harm. Wise boundaries may still be needed. Forgiveness does not make unsafe conduct safe. Yet boundaries need not stop us from asking what one good action might look like.
We often wait until our feelings change. We tell ourselves that we will act with kindness once we feel calm, warm, or forgiving. Scripture puts the action first.
Goodness is a choice long before it is an emotion.
That choice may be very small. You might send a kind message. You might speak well of someone at work. You might add their name to your prayer list. You may simply refuse to return hurt for hurt.
You are not using kindness as a way to control or change them. You are placing your own heart in God’s hands.
Think of one difficult person today. What is one quiet, good thing you could do?
You do not need to repair the whole relationship today. Just take the next faithful step.
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