God says respond to injustice with love – Daily Hope with Rick Warren – June 30, 2024

God says: Respond to injustice with love
By Rick Warren

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:43-44 (NIV)

Injustice is part of the human condition. You can’t live long on this earth without feeling like someone has treated you unfairly. Maybe it’s a parent who gave you a miserable childhood. Maybe it’s an employer who treats you worse than your coworkers. Maybe you feel like you were treated unfairly in the court process. Maybe you didn’t get the chance you felt you deserved.

You can respond to the people who hurt you by hurting them. This is undoubtedly the easiest decision!

But God gives us another option in His Word: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44 NIV)

When people hurt you, they expect you to take revenge. But God wants just the opposite: He wants you to respond with love.

When you respond to abuse with love, you prevent the other person from controlling you. You cannot control when another person treats you unfairly. You may Check whether you become bitter. You can control your reaction to injustice.

Just because you treat an offender with love does not mean that you allow injustice to continue. On the contrary, we must lovingly seek justice. We must work for justice in the world without retaliation. The Bible commands us to “fair and just. Do what is right!” (Jeremiah 22:3 NLT)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great example of this. He fought against injustice nonviolently. He overcame evil through the power of love. He followed the example of Jesus, who forgave his persecutors even when they killed him.

This is our calling as followers of Jesus. Injustice and unfairness may be part of human nature, but we must not encourage them. Instead, God calls us to respond with love.

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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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