Highlights of Chapter 9
The Extra Mile
“And whoever shall force you to go one mile,
go with him two.”
—Matthew 5:41
In the book of Matthew most of us are very familiar with what we have come to call the Beatitudes. Blessed are… is a message that is spoken of in the pulpits all over the world. Yet, within that very same chapter, if any of us would read it to the end, we would find a principle that very few speak about, let alone choose to apply to their lives. It is a principle that I have come to believe is one of the most powerful after the power of love.
Some Christians, I am convinced, choose not to apply this principle for the fact that they would rather suffer or miss a blessing themselves than to stoop so low as to bless their enemy. It’s an arrogance that is truly astonishing, given the fact that we have been given everything in this life. Yet, God, too, shows that He knows just how most of us are when He compares this seedy attitude to the brother of the prodigal son. Even though he had everything, when he saw his father blessing “that sinner” it brought out the true heart of many of us who claim to be Christian—a follower of Jesus.
Hopefully I have gotten your attention and you will open your heart up to embrace one of the most powerful principles, which begins with—not resisting evil.
Jesus said: “But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matt. 5:39-41).
It is natural, for each of us to resist evil when it comes against us. It is not natural to turn the other cheek, but to make sure we get in the next blow. But this, my beloved believer, is not the way Christians (followers and disciples) are to react.
“To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing” (1 Pet. 3:8).
God, simply because He is so good, also chose to attach a blessing when we refuse to respond in the flesh by resisting evil or dishing it back. But like all promises, there is a condition that needs to be met. If you have not yet read A Wise Woman, you may not be familiar with this principle and accuse me of something that is not true since no one can earn salvation. However true this is, there are simple conditions that create our blessing or put us in the right position to receive it, even if the condition is simply to accept it. Here are a couple taken from A Wise Woman:
Condition—“Believe on the Lord Jesus . . . Promise—and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Condition—“Delight yourself in the LORD . . . Promise—And He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).
Promise—“. . . God causes all things to work together for good . . . Condition—“to those who love God. . . to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
The condition or key to receiving our inheritance, our blessing, is that we must go beyond and give a blessing or more than is asked of us. Here is what it says.
“But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matt. 5:39-41).
“…not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing” (1 Pet. 3:8).
....God tells us that we will get double the amount we deserve from what we lost!! Let me tell you, too, that if you bless your enemy enthusiastically, you will find blessings ten times what was lost just because God loves to bless a good heart: someone, anyone, who will display the right attitude!
“Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; and I will faithfully give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them. Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed” (Isa. 61:7–9).
Longing to be gracious to you. “Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you For the LORD is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him” (Isa. 30:18). Not only does God bless you when you bless your enemy, but the most amazing phenomenon is that any hurt or anger or bitterness is immediately, yes, immediately gone.
Casting out fear. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…” (1 John 4:18). There are so many silly and also real fears that try to stop you from giving to your enemy. However, the more that you experience the amazing love that the Lord wants to shower and surround you with, the more that perfect love, the love that wants to give never seeking to receive, enables you to continue to give and be blessed.
Even non-Believers who live the principles regarding giving and blessing enemies reap the joyful and blessed life. It doesn’t take understanding the principles, nor more than someone would need to understand fully how electricity worked. If you tap into it, it works!
Walk this way. “Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21). Rather than trying to figure out how I am to bless my enemies, I always choose to ask the Lord. More often than not, the blessing just flows out of my mouth and I hear it at the same time that my enemy hears it. Other times, I simply ask, and an idea pops into my mind. Then I run with it while things just fall into place. If they don’t fall into place I simply surrender the plan to the Lord and allow Him to orchestrate it.
All who see them will recognize them, because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed. Isaiah 61:7-8
“Do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit repeatedly speaking through you.”—Matthew 10:19, Mark 13:11, Luke 12:11