Have you noticed that sometimes an oppressive regime is overthrown by a popular revolt, only to be replaced by an even more brutal government?
Someone astutely remarked that we can be fighting the evil outside us but there is a darker evil within us. Then, when we defeat that external evil, we unleash the evil that was lurking inside us all along.
Let us fight the evil whenever we can. But let us also cultivate goodness lest the evil consumes us. Too many tormented people stoop to the level of their tormentors. Someone hits them, they hit back. They scheme how to exact revenge or fantasize about the just deserts of their foes. Still others give in to the pressure and compromise their values.
When treated unfairly at work, the best response is to keep doing an excellent job. Sometimes that is all the defense we will ever need or what will prove our detractors wrong.
I used to have a terrible boss in that he always scolded me for whatever I did wrong but never mentored me to do what is correct. There was even a time when I gave him a printed report and he threw it to the floor.
Did I give him a piece of my mind? Did I go passive-aggressive in retaliation? Did I puncture the tires of his car?
No. To be honest, I wanted to resign but I needed that job. So I sucked it up and continued to do my job as best as I can. I was trusting God to vindicate me one day.
Then, before I knew it, my boss was made to retire. And I got an even better boss! That changing of the guards was instrumental in bringing me to where I am now: handling two factories for a well-known beverage conglomerate.
If we are convinced that God will someday vindicate us, this frees us from the need to retaliate. So resist the temptation to lash back or lose heart. Repay evil with good. Extend grace. Do kindness to your opponents. As another saying goes, “the best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend.”
When we take the high road — and then some — we will no longer be part of the problem. We will not even be part of the solution. We ARE the solution.
July 27, 2022
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