How Often Am I Using Somebody's Mean Attitude to Justify My Acts of Aggression?
As Christmas Day arrives - I couldn't help but think as to why I hate the season that much. I noticed some people expect leniency, I see the wicked put on their show business, and some people who have done me harm expect me to just drop it like that. I end up thinking of how often have I tried to justify my acts of aggression because somebody was being mean to me.
I remembered the time I actually hit a mean classmate of mine over an insult. The teacher was so mad she told me to go down to the disciplinarian. Instead, I decided to reason out that the person started the fight. I kept saying the person was so mean that I had every right to hurt him. All she said was, "SO WHAT?!" Later, we had a conversation that lasted for very long because I tried to justify my act of violence. She said that what returning wrong for wrong will never solve anything - only increase the pain. I told her I was adamant about murdering the person for making me angry to make the world a better place. She told me that it's not worth it going to jail because of a person like him. and that violence will only beget more violence Worse, people were laughing at me over my angry reaction. But the problem got worse because I really just kept hitting people because I held a grudge. The problem was it never ended because it only further justified them doing what they did. They also further justified me hurting them.
The Bible is plain and simple about mean people. Romans 3:10-19 says we've all sinned and we've been mean people at one point. You may be the most decent person today worldy-wise but it was because your parents disciplined you properly. The Bible's remedy for mean people has never been to seek revenge. Instead, Romans 12:19-21 gives practical advice that I fail to follow many times. It says never avenge yourself but leave it to God. Deuteronomy 32:35 obviously didn't allow revenge even in the Old Testament. Instead, the advice of Paul quoting Proverbs 25:21-22 is to show kindness to one's enemies. After all, Jesus said in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27-35 is to love your enemies. Loving them is hard as long as I'm choking in my pride. The difference is I'm not even proud of it after I got saved. In short, I can't justify my acts of aggression just because the person I hit was mean. I can only justify it if it was done in self-defense. But Jesus' remedy for insults was always to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29).
I remembered the time I actually hit a mean classmate of mine over an insult. The teacher was so mad she told me to go down to the disciplinarian. Instead, I decided to reason out that the person started the fight. I kept saying the person was so mean that I had every right to hurt him. All she said was, "SO WHAT?!" Later, we had a conversation that lasted for very long because I tried to justify my act of violence. She said that what returning wrong for wrong will never solve anything - only increase the pain. I told her I was adamant about murdering the person for making me angry to make the world a better place. She told me that it's not worth it going to jail because of a person like him. and that violence will only beget more violence Worse, people were laughing at me over my angry reaction. But the problem got worse because I really just kept hitting people because I held a grudge. The problem was it never ended because it only further justified them doing what they did. They also further justified me hurting them.
The Bible is plain and simple about mean people. Romans 3:10-19 says we've all sinned and we've been mean people at one point. You may be the most decent person today worldy-wise but it was because your parents disciplined you properly. The Bible's remedy for mean people has never been to seek revenge. Instead, Romans 12:19-21 gives practical advice that I fail to follow many times. It says never avenge yourself but leave it to God. Deuteronomy 32:35 obviously didn't allow revenge even in the Old Testament. Instead, the advice of Paul quoting Proverbs 25:21-22 is to show kindness to one's enemies. After all, Jesus said in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27-35 is to love your enemies. Loving them is hard as long as I'm choking in my pride. The difference is I'm not even proud of it after I got saved. In short, I can't justify my acts of aggression just because the person I hit was mean. I can only justify it if it was done in self-defense. But Jesus' remedy for insults was always to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29).
As said, why am I always trying to justify my acts of aggression? They did something wrong but doing something wrong in return is uncalled for. There's a justice system. If authorities fail then take it up to God. God has better timing than I have so why should I do things ahead of Him?
See also:
- Am I Allowing Petty Insults From Unbelievers to Get the Best of Me?
- Am I Getting Really Vindictive Over Very Petty Issues?
- Am I Keeping My Mouth Closed When the Wicked is Before Me?
- Am I Showing Hatred or Sympathy For My False Accusers?
- Am I Showing Sympathy for People Trapped in the Pleasantry of Satan's Lies?
- How Am I Responding to Petty Insults and Minor False Accusations?
- How Often Am I Tempted to Physically Harm Someone Over Mere Insults?
- How Often Have I Failed to Forgive Someone Because I Failed to Ask God for the Strength to Forgive?
- How Often Have I Lost My Cool While Promoting Biblical Truth?
- I Find It Difficult to Love My Enemies Without God's Grace
- I'm Amazed at God's Longsuffering
- I'm Struck by This Testimony of Calling Me to Love My Enemies
- Month End Reflection: Am I Praying For My Enemies and For the Wicked?
- My Constant Struggle to Love My Enemies and to Pray For Them That Persecute Me
- This Picture Tells Me How I Should Respond to My False Accusers...