12:16
We are to live in harmony with each other. Strife is often the way the world works. At the time of writing this (a few months before you will read it) the Conservative Party conference is just over, and it seems to be riddled with strife. Strife does not make things work well. Conversely unity does promote success. And Ps 133 extols the virtue of unity, and says it is where God bestows His blessing. We then get two characteristics to avoid, two which definitely do not engender harmony. First we must not be haughty, not having a high opinion of ourselves. To be haughty is both unattractive, and almost certainly unjustified. Instead we are to be happy to associate with all, including the lowly. Nor are to be wise in our own eyes.
12:17
We will be wronged, sometimes by mistake, sometimes deliberately. If this happens we must not repay evil with evil. We are not to get our own back. This will only multiply the evil. What we want to do is to defeat the evil. So we are to ensure that we act honourably. Ultimately this will bring victory. This does not mean we pretend that we have not been hurt, or that the evil doesn’t matter. Rather it is how we overcome. And we do this by trusting in God.
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