Proverbs 25:21-22. 21If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.
The Apostle Paul applies this proverb directly to our lives as Christians in Romans 12:
Romans 12:19-21. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God…20To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The Judeo-Christian ethic went beyond anything else the world has ever proposed. Never avenge is a common ethic, but do good to your enemy instead? That’s unheard of. Don’t curse. Yes, but also bless. Don’t repay evil for evil. That’s right, but also overcome evil with good. This is the only way that hatred and evil are overcome in this world.
You say, but doesn’t evil need to be punished? Yes, but leave it to the wrath of God. Our role is not to punish, but to pursue them with forgiveness and kindness – the burning hot coals of grace and mercy.
But what does this mean? How does doing good to our enemies, feeding them when they’re hungry, giving them water when they’re thirsty, heap burning coals on their head? That image doesn’t sound very Christlike does it? The Christlike part is the feeding of our enemy, the sharing of water with our enemy when they are thirsty, the turning of the other cheek and the going of the extra mile, the forgiving of their abuse, and the giving of grace in spite of their hatred. That’s the Christlike part.
The burning coals are the internal processing of all the kindness they are being shown. Simply put, when we respond to hatred with love, our enemy feels the burning hot coals of their shame. They want their hatred to be justifiable. But kindness toward our enemy makes it extremely difficult for them to justify their contempt. Hopefully, it forces them to reconsider the validity of their anger or even their apathy.
Now here’s where things get tricky. If you are kind to your enemy SO THAT they will feel bad inside, well then you aren’t actually being kind anymore are you? We must always ask ourselves, why am I being kind to this person? Why am I feeding them when they’re hungry and giving them water to drink when they’re thirsty? Is it just to prove that I’m better than them? Is your motivation some sort of reverse psychology meant to punish them? Or is to genuinely allow them to see that they are loved by you and by God?
Are you struggling right now to embrace this radical teaching? I get it. There’s a reason the world rejects this way of life. There’s a reason no other religion even proposed such a radical departure from revenge. The truth is, apart from Christ we can do none of this. We must begin by seeing how Christ treated us when we were his enemy. We must allow ourselves to feel the burning hot coals on our own heads. The fire of his love and grace. While starving he fed us with the bread of life. While dying of thirst he gave us living water. By his indwelling life he continues to satisfy us despite our daily rejection of him in so many big and small ways.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. May that burning coal of love motivate your kindness toward your enemy today.
You: In general, how do you treat your enemies? Avoid them? Revenge? Doing good?
You in Christ: How are you allowing God’s mercy toward you to motivate your own mercy toward others?
Christ in you: Is there an enemy that you can show the love of Christ to today?
Pray: Father, I’d rather my enemy feel the burning coals of grace now than the burning coals of Hell later. Keep me motivated by your grace to reveal it to others in my responses and in my words. Amen.
To Live is Christ 