CHOOSE YOUR BATTLE

***CHOOSE YOUR BATTLE: JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD***

Though we are all humans, our reaction to offenses done towards us can be different. Some have instant reactions while others wait for a good day to pay back evil for evil. They wait for when it would hurt the most to strike and retaliate while some just let it go instantly.

Growing up, there was a boy who was rude to me not minding our enormous age difference. Though we were inseparable at a time, misunderstanding came when he decided to believe a lie he was told about me and being a lad with no experience on how such issues are sorted out, he resulted to constant disrespect because he was very upset and didn't bother to have a conversation to find the truth.

I wasn't the type that was lenient with such behaviour growing up but I didn't touch a hair on his head on the matter. Why? I couldn't explain. I allowed the disrespectful act go on with no repercussion. I even instructed my younger siblings who are also older than him never to raise a finger on him on the matter. After a few months, he calmed down and asked for forgiveness.

It's been about 18years and I'm not sure why I didn't beat him. Though I wasn't reborn then I knew something in me was changing.

***I was the type of person who would wake up early in the morning, buy lots of grounded pepper then pour into your bathing water before you go inside the bathroom and enjoy your agony as you bath with the water JUST TO GET BACK AT YOU 

***I once wasted two full gallons of palm oil in the midnight and ensured it was completely empty because the lady reported me to my parents after I had begged her not to and my parents beat me. 

***I did beat up a lady because of 5 useless seeds of groundnuts. 

***I even made sure someone's car mirror was destroyed because he had wronged me. I was far from being a Christian when I was growing upon the inner streets of Mafoluku Oshodi Lagos.

I am not proud of all my wrongs and I have restituted with them after my repentance and we laughed it out. 

The incident with that little boy was the beginning of my transformation though i wasn't a Christian I did nothing to that boy. 

I recently found a possible reason I didn't go all Jackie Chan on that lad;

(Proverbs 24) so many verses in that chapter caught my attention that I can't begin to explain for it is long, but verse 10 says 

"If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small." 

Standing up to a bully or someone who has wronged us in the same way they did us just so they will respect us is not being strong but  being weak. They won't respect you, they will only fear you. If you can't endure or forgive your neighbours for what they had done like Jesus who had the power to tell the ground to open up and swallow all that had disrespected him, then you are weak. Being strong isn't when you beat up a bully, but when you stand down and say God have mercy on this son/daughter and show him/her the light. 

Being able to hold back is the strength that you must possess.

N.B. Personally, I'll say if it gets out of hand there is no crime or sin if you report a bully instead of getting back at them but when power shifts to your side then I beg you to do as the bible says in; 

Proverbs 24:29

"Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.”" 

Growing up I was nethier bullied nor bullied anyone but if you were a bully, you won't want me as your prey because I surely would have made your life a living hell. You throw little punches at me, I throw much bigger ones back at you because my life was centered around  revenging myself without fear.

In Matthew 5:38–39, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” The concept of “turning the other cheek” is a difficult one for us to grasp. Allowing a second slap after being slapped once does not come naturally. 

Jesus addressed the need for true transformation versus mere rule-keeping in His sermon on the Mount where he commanded us to turn the other cheek.

 "It’s not enough to obey the letter of the law; we must conform to the spirit of the law as well." 

Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek complements the nature of His coming which is characterized by mercy, sacrificial love and longsuffering toward sinners (the enemies, bullies). For instance, He tells us to go the extra mile for someone who abuses us (Matthew 5:41) and to love and pray for our enemies instead of holding enmity against them (verse 44). In summary, Jesus is saying we need to be pure inside and out and as accommodating as possible for the sake of a lost world. 

Someone said "A word about the “slap” that Jesus says we should endure. Jesus here speaks of personal slights of any kind. The slap (or the “smiting,” as the KJV has it) does not have to involve literal, physical violence. Even in our day, a “slap in the face” is a metaphor for an unexpected insult or offense. Did someone insult you? Let him, Jesus says. Are you shocked and offended? Don’t be. And don’t return insult for insult. Turn the other cheek." 

Revenge and Retaliation is of the Lord

Romans 12:19

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 

Leviticus 19:17-18

New International Version

17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 

The best way to fight your bullies or enemies is not by throwing back punches but by endurance and praying to God on their behalf so they can repent and turn from their evil ways. Do not pray bad things happens to them even though God said He will take revenge for Himself, remember He also said in:

(Proverbs 24:17-18) "17. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; 18. Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him."

N.B. 

Love is one thing that is missing in this world. What gain is it to me if I take revenge on my neighbours or rejoice when they have fallen...? Because I have power over you, what good is it if I use it to destroy you instead of helping you? Nothing last for ever except God, START BY THROWING A DIFFERENT KIND OF PUNCH TODAY. Let your punch be:

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. against such things there is no law." 

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” (1 Peter 4:8)

Author: Damsky Bola 

Email: Damskybola10@gmail.com 

Twitter: Damskybola10 

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