Jesus doesn’t just ask us to avoid revenge—he calls us to actively do good in return. Not because the other person deserves it, but because he deserves our obedience.
And we’ve seen it lived out—not just in Bible times, but in our own history. Perhaps one of the clearest modern examples is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who embodied non-retaliating love in the face of crushing injustice…
One of the best modern examples of this kind of love comes from Martin Luther King. There can be no doubt of the unjust sufferings which Luther King had to endure. Doctor Benjamin Mays listed them at his funeral: “If any man knew the meaning of suffering, King knew. House bombed; living day by day for 13 years under constant threats of death; maliciously accused of being a communist; falsely accused of being insincere…; stabbed by a member of his own race; Slugged in a hotel lobby; Jailed over 20 times; Occasionally deeply hurt because friends betrayed him- and yet this man had no bitterness in his heart, no rancor in his soul, no revenge in his mind; and he went up and down the length and breadth of this world preaching nonviolence and the redemptive power of love.