In the worst of situations, let us remember that we can still be human, we can still look at other people with a merciful heart. – Jocelyn Soriano
It’s never easy to be kind to those who harmed us. It’s never even easy to forgive, how much more to do good to those who did evil to us?
But a chain of one evil to another evil could never result in anything but more evil. And the violence that punishes another person, no matter how we deem to be just, punishes not only that person, but the one who administers the violence itself. Like a poison, it creeps into his heart until there is nothing there but bitterness. Like a two-edged sword, it pierces through his soul and claims his own humanity.
What difference shall there be between ourselves and our enemies if we merely do what they do, or if we do even worse? What right have we to hate evil if we have allowed darkness itself to reign in our souls?
Let us pray for the strength to resist the temptation to succumb to the evil we detest. It will never be easy, but with God, it is possible. Why would He tell us to love even our enemies if it couldn’t be done?
He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you. You have declared today how you have dealt well with me, because when the LORD had delivered me up into your hand, you didn’t kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may the LORD reward you good for that which you have done to me today.” – 1 Samuel 24, WEBBE
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"