Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.
As the walls of Jerusalem were in the process of being rebuilt, the land was also going through a time of famine. Families who were laboring day and night to restore the wall were having to mortgage their fields, vineyards, and homes to get food put on the table at home. Some were even selling their children into slavery just to make ends meet. Finally some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their oppressors, who happened to be the nobles and officials of Jerusalem, their own fellow Jews! While the working class of the city was toiling under the hot sun to restore the city and rebuild the wall, the nobility was selling their very own countrymen back into slavery by charging them interest when they borrowed money. Finally Nehemiah had enough. He heard the cries of oppression and called a public meeting to address the problem.
In his indignation he said, “The rest of us are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them? What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? (italics and bold added) I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of loans. You must restore their fields, vineyard, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. Repay the interest you charged on their money, grain, wine, and olive oil.” Then the officials replied, “We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.”
Nehemiah also went on to inform the officials that during the entire twelve years that he was governor of Judah, neither he nor his officials drew on their alloted food allowance. He said because of his fear of God, he did not tap into or abuse that perk like his predecessors had. He refused to act that way or to take advantage of the people. He knew the people were already having a difficult enough time, and he was going to be a part of the solution, not the problem. The crisis he and his nation were facing was a time for their true character to be revealed.
When crisis comes into our lives, that is not a time to throw godly behavior to the wind, but it is a time to exemplify the righteousness that is within us. How we respond to the difficult times in our lives reveals who we really are! If our first inclination is to look out for number 1, to walk all over anyone who gets in our way, to avenge the wrong that has been done to us, then our character is not emulating that of Christ. If we were to look at the model of Jesus, we would see that getting even was not his way. He was not vindictive, malicious, cunning, spiteful, or rude. His standard operating procedure was to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44) He taught that if someone slaps us on the right cheek, to turn the other too. (Matthew 5:39) If someone demands that we carry their gear for a mile, offer to carry it for two! (Matthew 5:41)
This kind of behavior, the kind that stares crisis and hard times in the face, and says, “I refuse to stoop to a demeanor that is less than God’s standard for me as His child,” is the real litmus test of our character. How we respond to life’s battles is the barometer of our spiritual maturity and the revelation of who we are at our core. We will either show our family resemblance to our Heavenly Father or we will reflect our kinship to the world. We will demonstrate a godly nature or a sin nature, and the choice is always ours to make. May we remember that we are held accountable for every word we speak, every thought we conceive, and every deed we carry out, whether in times of peace or in times of crisis. And may that knowledge spur us on to diligently following the example of Jesus and always treating others as we would want them to treat us! (Luke 6:31) After all, should we not also walk in the fear of our God in order that we won’t be mocked by our enemies?
application
Print this saying out and hang it on your bathroom mirror for the next month or two as a reminder of the kind of lives we’re supposed to lead as followers of Christ:
Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes…your destiny!