THE OTHER CHEEK

Mathew 5: 38 – 42


I used to work in a transitional facility for those people coming from detox who were waiting for housing in a halfway house or other sober living conditions. At shift change I would speak with another guy (also in recovery) and we would talk about the things that made us mad about recovery. Usually it was the things that came along after we sobered up that we never got to try, and all the places of the flesh we were no longer able to go to.
It was usually done tongue and cheek, as one may expect, and never done with a straight face.
Here in Mathew is one of those passages that honk me off.

38 "You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

These are lofty goals that are hard to reach. My flesh tells me that if I am struck, well I'm gonna strike back, and hopefully hard enough that there will be no other blows at all.
I once heard pastor Bruce Fong teach in a sermon, that if he gets hit, he will offer the other cheek, but if it happens one more time, he was gonna kick some butt because the Bible never said anything about the third blow. (LOL)
So I guess we all struggle with the flesh from time to time and even if we want to do the right thing, we struggle in doing so. If that is true, we need to watch ourselves and try to keep on the road laid out before us with the instruction of Jesus. After all, He knows better than we do.