Romans 12:20

Prize Chickens

In today’s text, the apostle Paul said that by helping our enemies we heap “coals of fire” on their heads. He certainly didn’t mean that this is a good way to hurt them—to get even. He meant that by using kindness we might secure their repentance, thus showing our sincere desire for their eternal good.

A Christian lady owned two prize chickens that got out of their run and busied themselves in the garden of an ill-tempered neighbor. The man caught the hens, wrung their necks, and threw them back over the fence. Naturally, the woman was upset, but she didn’t get angry and rush over and scream at him. Instead, she took the birds, dressed them out, and prepared two chicken pies. Then she delivered one of the freshly baked pies to the man who had killed her hens. She apologized for not being more careful about keeping her chickens in her own yard. Her children, expecting an angry scene, hid behind a bush to see the man’s face and hear what he’d say. But he was speechless! That chicken pie and apology filled him with a burning sense of shame. But she wasn’t trying to get even. Her motive in returning good for evil was to show her neighbor true Christian love, and maybe even bring about a change of heart. H.V.L.

Our Daily Bread, April 15

Unexpected Kindness

In 1818 a man named Tamatoe, King of the South Sea island of Huahine, became a Christian. Shortly thereafter, he discovered a plot to seize him and other converts and burn them to death.

Tamatoe organized a band that attacked the conspirators, captured and bound them—and then set before them a feast! The unexpected kindness so impressed his enemies that they burned their idols and confessed Christ.

Today in the Word, June 30, 1992