Today we read from 2 Kings 6:1-7:20 in the One Year Bible. We read the story of Elisha causing his enemies to become blind, leading them into the camp of Elisha's friends, and then instructing the leader NOT to kill the enemy, but to feed them and send them home.
There is great wisdom in this story. Elisha's friends had their enemy at their mercy. And they could have killed them. But, as we see throughout history, killing your enemy usually just makes your enemy hate you more, and come back with reinforcements to kill more of your friends.
But Elisha teaches what kindness does. By feeding their foes and sending them home safely, he made them, if not friends, at least sympathetic to those who were formerly their enemy. They stopped attacking Elisha's friends, and kept to themselves after that.
When we're kind to our enemies, we turn away their wrath. We teach them by example how to behave like civilized people. And often, we cool their anger. Sometimes, we even make them our friends.
God, thank You for teaching us how to conquer our enemies - by treating them with kindness.
1 comment:
Amen
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