Fight Fire with Kindness

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 9:17-21

Have you ever had someone mad at you? I know I have, the kind of mad that makes someone take the long way around to avoid me completely. And I'll tell you, when the situation comes to light for me, I have to confess that my first thought is usually something in terms of revenge. Kind of a "you didn't like that? Wait till you see what I do next" type of thing. Not a very Christ-like attitude I'm afraid, but it is true. But these verses found in Romans can be just the thing to turn to when you're in just such a situation.

By being kind to your enemy, you will heap burning coals on his head. By being kind to your enemy, you're taking away some of their reasons for being an enemy in the first place. You're disarming them with your kindness and generosity, and who knows, you could end up being friends despite your differences. This verse in Matthew also addresses this:

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12

What would Jesus do to his enemies? He certainly wouldn't fight back with anything other than kindness and scripture verses from his Father. In order to be more Christ-like, we need to check ourselves when it comes to our "enemies". It doesn't mean that we suddenly need to become best friends with them, but we do need to respect them and treat them as a brother or sister in Christ deserves to be treated- and that is with love. Christ's love can break down any walls of resistance.

On a related note, there's the treatment of a stranger. Showing kindness to a stranger can sometimes completely change their lives. Who knows when a simple act of kindness could somehow lead another life to Christ. It could happen. And you also never know, when you help a stranger, you could be helping a servant of God.

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2