Matthew 5:39
I say to you, do not resist an evil person;
but whoever slaps you on your right cheek,
turn the other to him also.
Jesus is telling you here, not to resist someone who treats you badly. But if he hits you on your right cheek, then turn your other cheek towards him as well.
Meaning, that if someone treats you badly, you should not push him away, or ignore him, but stay friendly, try to keep the relationship going, even give him a chance to do wrong to you again.
This is the attitude of the Father.
When we do wrong, and we ask for forgiveness, He will forgive us. He will not tie us up so we cannot sin again, but He tells us not to sin again, and in the same time He leaves us in the position where we could hurt Him again.
Yes, hurt Him, for when you sin, you hurt your heavenly Father. For it are your sins that caused the wounds on Jesus’s back, hands, feet, and side.
In Genesis 3:8 we read
They (Adam and Eve) heard
the sound (or the voice) of the Lord God
walking in the garden
in the cool of the day.
So it is safe to conclude that God was having a kind of relationship with them. It was not the first time they heard this sound (or His voice), because they recognized it as the sound (as the voice) of the Lord.
▪︎ God wants contact with His creation.
▪︎ God wants His creation to have a relationship with Him
▪︎ And God wants us to live a holy life near Him.
Human beings were created in the image of God
Genesis 1:27
God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.
So it is not strange that we, human beings, also long for relationships. The ability to relate to others is built into us ever since we were created, and like God we also long to relate to eachother and to God.
Because many do not accept God in their lives, they have that empty feeling. For they have that “God-shaped” emptiness, that “God-shaped” hole in their heart, that cannot be filled by anybody or anything else but by God.
If you have that empty feeling, then don’t continue trying to fill it with anything the world may offer you, but receive Jesus and start following Him.
By going to Adam and Eve, in the garden, to fellowship with them, God shows us that He loves companionship. Yes our rebellion towards God destroyed a lot.
Mankind wanted to have knowledge of good and evil, well, now we know, and we are not able to cope with the misery it brought, without the help of God. The same God we rebelled to.
Because of this knowledge you are now able to offend others, and to be offended.
Jesus is telling you in this verse, that when you are wronged by someone,
▪︎ not to completely cut off the person, but give the person the chance to prove themselves;
▪︎ not to resist the person who treated you badly, not push him away, or ignore him, but to stay friendly, and try to keep the relationship going, even give him a chance to do wrong to you again.
Since we rebelled against the Lord, we are having hard times dealing with these kind of situations, but we can, otherwise Jesus would not ask it from us.
When you have problems, dealing with this, then ask the Lord to lead you, to find a way to treat this person who keeps abusing the opportunities you give.
Sometimes showing love, sometimes a temporary separation, and sometimes just showing kindness, are the tools by which you will be able to win them for the Lord.
May the Lord give you wisdom and discernment to know how to overcome these obstacles on your way.
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