Romans 12:17

Romans 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Have you ever had someone do something mean to you? It could have even been your brother or your sister! Didn’t you think, “I am going to get them back!” That is what the word recompense means. It means to get even. But if we get even with someone, what are they thinking about? They are thinking of how to get even with us! And then we have to get even with them. And then they have to get even with us. Well, you see where this is going. The getting even never ends. We just keep fighting and trying to get even. But our verse says that we should stop trying to get even. Our verse even says that when someone does something bad to us, we should do something good to them in return. That would stop the getting even, wouldn’t it? Our picture for today is from the Holy Joe tract. Joe was in the army and a good Christian example. One night he was on his knees praying by his bed and his wicked friends threw their boots at him. But what did Joe do? Did he get even? No, he didn’t! He took the boots and polished them! Holy Joe stopped the getting even cycle. He was a good Christian example. And we should be too!