Hey there
Have you completed a task and found yourself just a little resentful or grumpy about it in the process? If so, there’s a word in the Bible for you. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
2 Timothy 2:24 NIV
[24] And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
Forbearing
When I initially read the Nougat we’re focused on, I read two pairs of instruction. However, there is scope to see the resentful is its own qualification, separate and apart from the ability to teach. In fact, the root word presented is anexikakos, which is often transliterates in English as forbearance. Actually, the Greek derived from two roots, anechomai and kakos. Anechomai is related to bearing up or tolerating; and kakos refers to evil, wicked, harmful … even malicious action. Combined, it’s therefore bearing up in three face of malicious actions. That is even harder than trying to escape the grumbles!
Self-Check
How do we hold up in the face of malice?
Application
Siblings, it’s not easy. It’s not always easy to remember that vengeance belongs to God (see Deuteronomy 32:35), not us. Sometimes, I feel like my godmother/auntie, who’s fondly remembered for saying, ‘If I were a police, I would arrest them at once!’ (And she would too). Yet our God writer Paul, tells us through Timothy, ‘hold strain’, i.e., ‘bear up’.
Like me and my auntie, you may be inclined to think, ‘It’s easy for you to say Paul’. For, it is hard to ignore malicious intent. Even harder to be nice in the face of such. But, our first priority is to the One Who created us – God Almighty. It is God Who calls and equips us in such instances. Our own flesh/emotions may fail us, but by God’s grace we can move past the resentment into grace. Again, we remember, vengeance is the Lord’s. Sometimes it is more painful for the person if God is the One Who gets revenge!
Point to Ponder
What issue do we need to place before God today?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
