TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. Matthew 5:39b
Read: Matthew 5:38-39
Listen: Matthew 5
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Jesus’s new way is counter-cultural. He says the right way to live is by overlooking an insult. His example isn’t just an ordinary insult. A backhanded slap would’ve been a very public act of contempt. It’s degrading and humiliating. A typical response would be to escalate the situation with an even more insulting response or physical violence. But Jesus gives an example that isn’t typical. He talks about the person who is getting slapped around turning the other cheek. This person is so overwhelmed with the grace of God that they can endure insults without response.
We all get slapped around by insults today. A co-worker insults us in a meeting we weren’t even at. A family member ridicules us at Christmas to our face. A coach demeans us in front of the team. A former boyfriend goes on a rant about us on Snapchat. Our initial response is to want to hurt them for what they said. That’s the old way. Jesus calls us to something stranger—he calls us to grace. He calls us to be grace in, grace out people. He wants us to let it go.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Write on a page in your journal or mobile device “things I need to let go of.” Make a list of the insults you haven’t been able to let go of and want to get even about. At the bottom of the page, write a prayer like this, “God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for the insults and humiliation Jesus was willing to endure to rescue me. Help me be like Jesus. Help me let go of insults because Jesus did that for me. It’s not easy for me to do. I need your help.”
NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN
Join us this year as we read through the New Testament.
Today’s reading is Romans 5.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
