Doing Good to Those Who Do Not Deserve It

It feels wonderful to do good to others, to give charity to the needy, to spread the love to our friends and family, and to bring joy into their hearts, but it is quite difficult for many of us to do good to those who do not deserve it like the people who have betrayed us and stabbed us hard in the back or those people who persecuted and cursed us.

I tell you, sometimes we are tempted to feel angry or bitter against those people who have wronged and hurt us.

In those times, we feel pity on ourselves and we might even rouse others to feel the same way we do against those people.

But as Christians, Jesus commands us to do otherwise and instead of seeking vengeance against those who have hurt us, we must repay them with kindness and love.

Hatred, grudge, and bitterness are not from God. They are from Satan and these negative feelings become stumbling blocks for many Christians. They become hindrances from experiencing God's blessings and abundance in life.

Before I accepted Jesus in my heart, my life was filled with anger, frustration, and bitterness against others and myself. I used to grumble and whine when things did not go my way or when somebody fails to do something. I complained about other people's attitude but seldom thought about my own.

Letting these negative feelings in my life made me miserable and I just continued to wallow in self-pity and self-righteousness which tore me apart. Eventually, I became honest with God and myself. I came to know that I am a sinner just like everyone else and I need a Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now, I live by God's grace and righteousness. By His power, I am able to live a victorious life and to overcome temptation and sin. My heart is no longer filled with bitterness or hatred but with love, joy, and peace.

Knowing that my life is nothing without God and that I can only stand in God's presence because of the righteousness that Jesus gave me by His grace, I am fully convinced that I have no right to judge others or to hold a grudge against them because my God has already forgiven me by His mercy and grace through His Son, Jesus Christ who died for me on the cross and was resurrected so that I may have life in Him.

He showed me how to live a life that is pleasing to God and that is what I want to follow. I admit that living under the influence of sin and negativity is very tiring and cruel. I do not want to go back to that kind of life.

I do not want to hate people anymore nor do I want to take revenge for whatever wrongs they did because Jesus showed me how much He truly loves despite the mockery and persecution He received from the world. He never retaliated nor bore ill-will against anyone. He forgave and gave people ample chances to repent and turn from their sinful ways.

I am always reminded how much Jesus loves a sinner like me who has done many wrong things against Him, my family, and my friends. I have learned that the best way to face persecution is with kindness and love and humility because God showed us His mercy and grace and love when He gave Jesus who then modeled how to live and interact with other people.

Jesus commanded us to bless those who curse and persecute us and to pray for them that God may bless them. We must repay the wrong things people do toward us with good so that they would know the love of God and in that way we can share God's mercy, grace, and compassion with them.

It feels good to do good to our friends and family. It feels good to repay someone's goodness with good. But it would feel even better to do good to those who hate us, curse us, insult us, and persecute us. It feels even better to repay someone's evil deeds against us with good.

Because, in those moments, we are placing God first above our own selfishness and pride. We humble ourselves before God and truly practice what our faith is preaching which is to love even if they are unlovable. Love one another and love our enemies. In that way, God's love is perfected in us.