Do you always have to have the last word?
I like to think I’m a kind person, but when someone disrespects me or disagrees with me on something I care about, I find it hard.
Don’t you hate the part of you that has to get in the last word? We can’t let the matter drop. We spit out words fueled by the heat of the moment – words that continue to sting and cut long after they’ve left our lips. Long past the moment we regret saying them.
We’re fired up, and although we’re confident in our position, we get lost in our passion. Sometimes the tables turn, and we find ourselves on the receiving end of blistering cutting words.
What if our angry words were the last words we spoke before we suddenly faced God in eternity? Would you wish for a do-over? Or what if our hateful language were the last words our husband, sibling or neighbor heard from us before we or they died?
When I’m angry, my mind goes a hundred miles per hour. It’s embarrassing how difficult it is for me to get my thoughts under control. Meditating on a Bible verse, however, always corrects my train of thought. It brings me back to the heart of God – and His heart toward the other person.
What would happen if we applied 1 Peter 3:9 (ESV)? “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”
Which part of this verse speaks to you?
Notice the word “repay.” This word implies that God knows we will experience offensive behavior. Furthermore, what if God has placed some of the people in our lives to help us mature?
It’s not easy to bless someone who disrespects us. Yet according to the second half of our verse, blessing our tormentors isn’t a suggestion, it’s a command. It’s our calling. When we act on our calling, including not insisting on having the last word, we position ourselves to receive a blessing from God.
The Amplified, Classic version of 1 Peter 3:9 offers guidelines on how to bless those who revile us: “praying for their welfare, happiness, and protection, and truly pitying and loving them.” Remarkably, when I pray for my opponent (thus blessing them), I feel better about them – and about myself.
In Christ, I want to grow in my ability to love, respect and bless others, even those who offend or persistently disagree with me. I have a feeling you do too.
Sheryl H. Boldt, a Franklin County resident, is a faith columnist and the author of the blog www.TodayCanBeDifferent.net. You can reach her at SherylHBoldt@gmail.com.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.