Slapped

 By: Ayana Bryant-Weekes

Many people may not agree with me, but feel like any conflict can be resolved with a conversation, or some type of exchange of words that reflect each person’s honest feelings, good or bad. It’s just not in my character to get so angry with someone that I need to physically harm them unless I’m defending myself.  Which is why I’ve never been in a fight that I started. Based on our Natural instincts though, most people would agree with my belief that if someone hits me I feel I have EVERY right to hit them back! But apparently that’s not the way God intended.

Luke 6:29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other also. If some one takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. NIV

His word makes it clear but honestly, I can count on one hand how many fights I’ve been in and one of them was in the fourth grade when a boy LITERALLY knocked the wind out of me at recess! (Only a few people know that about me and I’m praying they forgot about it lol) Nonetheless, I never felt like Jesus spoke those words as a testament to what I’d experience in my Christian walk until I recognized it in my life. 

I was taking The Bible way too literally, and in searching for an answer to the question “Why am I being emotionally slapped in the face by people I love and trust, and why, God, isn’t it in me to slap them back?!”  I started to randomly remember Luke 6:29 in the back of my mind. I hadn’t really read what the whole passage said but I had heard turn the other cheek enough times before. But, the more I asked God why, the more I would remember turn the other cheek. What led Jesus to instruct something so unnatural?

The entire Luke 6: 27-36 passage talks about having a love for your enemies and in the Message version it hit even closer to home:

To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. Luke 6:27-29

Jesus knew that we would end up putting faith in our friends and even our families. We read other scriptures in The Bible that tell us we’ll reap what we sow and try our best to put positive energy into relationships with people we love and trust hoping it will come back to us; this passage reminds me that sometimes it doesn’t.  Sometimes we get emotionally slapped in the face.

            Turning the other cheek doesn’t come natural to us because it feels like weakness. Why allow myself to be a punching bag for someone else? If they hurt me once, why would I give them another chance to hurt me again? Turning the other cheek is even still an act of love. Turning the other cheek demonstrates emotional control, compassion, and humility; it brings out the best in us and gives us an opportunity to practice the servant life Jesus talked about in verse twenty-nine.

            This instruction is one of the toughest ones – it can feel like you’re left with nothing but hurt feelings but Luke 6: 35-36 explains our reward;

“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.”