Let Our Aims Be Such as All Count Honorable

Readings:
Esther 3
Romans 12:17-21

Focus:
Romans 12:17: "Never pay back evil for evil. Let your aims be such as all count honorable."

This sounds great and even easy to do upon first reading. But it's actually quite hard when we think about it a little longer. And it's also quite a good goal.

For example, it might be pretty tempting to cut a bad driver off in the anonymity of freeway driving in order to get to the lane we want and get to our destination as quickly as we want. But pretty much everyone would generally think that it's honorable to not cut off another driver. So that should be our aim, and we should not do it, no matter how anonymous we might feel. Who knows what the bad driver's story might be, or what might be the result of our driving?

It's pretty tempting to speak sarcastically to someone who has annoyed us. But pretty much everyone would generally think that it's honorable not to speak unkindly. So that should be our aim, and we should not do it, no matter how satisfying it might feel at the time. Who knows what pain we might be inflicting, or what lack of understanding we might have about our own actions that have led to the other person's annoyance?

And in the long run, God has asked it of us. That should be enough. We don't pay back evil for evil, because we obey God. We let our aims be such as all count honorable.