Relentless Love

1 Peter 3:8-12

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9, ESV)

WATCHMAN NEE ONCE WROTE of a Christian in South China whose rice field was in the middle of a terraced hill. Whenever the rains were insufficient to fill his field, he lifted water into it from an irrigation stream by working a waterwheel with a treadmill. But the man who owned the next lowest field often drained the Christian farmer’s water into his own field, creating a lot of extra work. The Christian tried his best not to retaliate but was bothered by the injustice. He prayed and decided that defending his own rights was not a Kingdom approach. Instead, he began pumping water for his neighbor’s field first, then filled his own. The neighbor was amazed and eventually became a Christian.^a

God is a God of justice, but even more he is a God of mercy. To stand out in a hostile culture, we will have to find unexpected ways of responding to offenses. Yes, there are times when we should remove ourselves from abusive situations for the sake of our own protection, but less dangerous situations may call for a different approach. The rice farmer in South China responded with a winsome attitude in an aggravating situation, and God used his response to turn an enemy into a friend and believer. The Kingdom grows when his people adopt his nature.

When we realize how God has approached us, taking the burden of our offenses on himself and focusing instead on what we really need, we begin to develop the same attitude in our relationships with others. We stop returning hostility for hostility, defensiveness for defensiveness, and apathy for apathy. Instead, we embrace relentless love that overcomes the barriers in people’s hearts. The only way to live a winsome life in a hostile culture is to choose to respond to it in a different spirit. Eventually, obstacles come down, attitudes change, and many hearts open up to the love of a merciful Father.

{Father, fill me with relentless, overcoming love. Let my vision be so focused on others’ needs that I hardly notice their faults. May I show others the same kind of mercy you have shown me. Amen.