The Nature Of Love

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:18

A holy man, sitting by a stream, noticed a large scorpion struggling to get out of the swirling waters. The holy man used a stick to try to push the insect ashore, but it only struck at the stick with its poisonous tail. A friend passed by and said, “Don’t you know it’s the nature of a scorpion to attack?” “Yes,” said the holy man, “but it is my nature to save. Why should I change my nature just because the scorpion won’t change his?”

That’s a good question—one every Christian should consider. If ever we strike back at someone who has attacked us, we deny the very nature of Christ, who lives in us. The apostle Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Did Jesus retaliate and strike back at those who mistreated Him? We know He did not (1 Peter 2:21–23). If Christ lives in us, we should not retaliate either.

Nothing can quench the fires of hatred like the healing waters of love.