Hello friend.
I want to tell you about something that has been rattling round my head this week.
Most of us have someone in our lives who is hard work. A colleague who takes the credit. A neighbour who complains. A relative who knows exactly which button to press. And when they push, something in us pushes back. We rehearse the reply in the shower. We compose the message we will never send. We give as good as we get.
Paul had a better idea. Writing to a group of ordinary believers in a hard city, he said this: “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” Not by matching it. Not by outshouting it. By doing good.
I know how that sounds. Soft. Naive, even. But I have watched it work. Kindness aimed at someone who expects a fight is the one thing they have no defence against. It stops the cycle dead.
So this week I have made a short series of seven daily devotionals. Each one takes a single idea and gives you five minutes with it. A woman who built a spare room. An army that got given breakfast instead of a battle. Three friends who sat in the dust and said nothing at all.
You do not have to be religious to get something out of these. You just have to be tired of the shouting.
The whole series is on YouTube now. Come and have a look, starting tomorrow: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMKZRhHds00
Grace and peace.
Rob
Scripture: Romans 12:21