This study was first taught on May 19, 2010

Topic: God’s Standard for Living With Others (2)

No audio available for this study.

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Background
Last week, we began to study “God’s Standard for Living With Others”, by looking at how to treat people who cause us harm. The simple rule is: Do not pay back those who hurt you with evil, but with good; and, do not fight back those who oppress you. In order to be able to successfully do this, we noted that two essential attributes we must possess are forgiveness and forbearance.

For the Christian, retaliation, retribution, or revenge, is not an option! We noted that the doctrine of ‘an eye for an eye’ is taught so that we can avoid other people’s eyes. We also noted that this doctrine was God’s legislation for those who will administer justice, and not for individuals to take matters into their own hands. Thus, ‘an eye for an eye’ is intended to help judges make righteous judgments so that the punishment fits the crime.

So where does that leave the Christian? The Christian must exhibit his faith in God by not taking matters before human courts, but by leaving matters in God’s hands. Where a matter needs to be resolved, however, the church is the best place to get that justice. We noted also, that we must seek peace in every situation, as much as is possible.

We said that while forbearance and forgiveness should be our disposition in relating with others, we are nonetheless not to give room to the devil and his demons. We are to resist the devil and his demons steadfastly. As we resist them they will flee from us, and we are better able to deal with hurt from people. Thus, we said that though the Christian engages in battle against the devil and his demons spiritually; towards human beings, he is meek and humble.

Scripture Text(s)
Matthew 5:42
As we proceed with the second installment of “God’s Standard for Living With Others”, our scripture text tells us to give to all who ask of us; and to all who would want to borrow from us, to lend. Again, knowing human beings and what they are capable of doing, the tendency is for us to resist requests from others. May the Holy Spirit help us to make the adjustments that we need to make in order to bring people closer to God.

Deuteronomy 15:7-14; Exodus 22:25-27; Deuteronomy 24:10-22; Psalm 37:25-26; Proverbs 3:27-28; 11:24-28; 19:17; 14:21; 28:8, 27; Ecclesiastes 11:1-6; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; 1 John 3:17; Isaiah 58:3-10; Hosea 6:6; Psalm 41:1-3; Galatians 6:6-10; 2 Corinthians 9:1, 6-7; Hebrews 6:10; Luke 6:38; 11:5-13; John 4:6-10; Luke 9:12-17; 2 Corinthians 12:15.

Conclusion
In this second installment of God’s standard for living with others, we see that God wants the Christian to be His representative in all ramifications here on earth. God’s desire for us is that we would be extensions of His heart and hands, not only toward our Christian brothers and sisters, but also, toward the world as a whole (John 3:16).

Everyone who believes in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ must of necessity be rid of selfishness and self-centeredness in his heart; and must rather imbibe compassion in his heart. Our acts of giving to those who ask of us must be without prejudice or feeling that they are just being lazy, rather, let us leave that judgment call to God. Spiritual acts like fasting and prayer are meaningless without a commensurate show of mercy. Our acts of mercy must also be in line with acceptable standards: cheerfully, and not grudgingly or by compulsion.

We need to ask God to give us hearts of compassion towards others, especially towards people we don’t know or people who cannot do us any favours in return for our kindness toward them.

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