Take Thought
READ
There's a moment in every conflict where you have to make a choice: Will you retaliate or will you rise above?
Someone wrongs you. Someone hurts you. Someone treats you unfairly. And everything in you wants to hit back. To make them feel what you felt. To make sure they don't get away with it. To even the score.
But Paul says: don't. Don't repay evil for evil. Instead, take thought for what is noble. Choose the higher path. Respond in a way that reflects who you are, not who they are.
Let’s take a moment to read Romans 12:17:
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all"
REFLECT
This is where devotion gets tested. Because it's easy to be devoted when everyone treats you well. It's easy to love when you're being loved. It's easy to be faithful when life is fair. But what happens when it's not? What happens when someone does you wrong and no one else even knows about it? What happens when you could retaliate and probably get away with it?
That's when you find out what you're really devoted to. Are you devoted to your own sense of justice? To your reputation? To making sure you come out on top? Or are you devoted to Christ—to living in a way that reflects His character, even when it costs you?
Here's where "independently dependent on Christ" comes in. You're not dependent on others' approval or fairness. You're not dependent on circumstances going your way. You're dependent on Christ—on His presence, on His strength, on His example. And because of that dependence, you're free. Free to respond with integrity even when others don't. Free to choose what is noble even when retaliation would feel more satisfying.
But let's be clear: choosing what is noble doesn't mean you become a doormat. It doesn't mean you let people walk all over you or that you never set boundaries or address wrong. It means that in the moments when you have a choice—to escalate or de-escalate, to harm or to help, to curse or to bless—you choose the path that honors God and reflects His love.
This is what sustains devotion over the long haul. Because if you're constantly fighting for your own vindication, if you're always keeping score, if you're letting every offense turn into bitterness, you won't make it. You'll burn out. You'll become cynical. You'll lose your capacity for love.
But if you can learn to release the need for revenge, to trust that God sees and will handle justice, to focus on what is noble in the sight of all—then you can keep going. You can stay devoted even in the face of injustice. You can love even when you've been hurt.
So today, where are you tempted to repay evil for evil? What situation is pulling you toward retaliation instead of nobility? What would it look like to be independently dependent on Christ in that moment—to let Him sustain you, to let Him be your vindication, to let Him give you the strength to choose the higher path?
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
Where are you tempted to retaliate or repay evil for evil right now?
What does it mean to be "independently dependent on Christ" in moments of conflict or hurt?
How does choosing what is noble—rather than what feels satisfying—sustain your devotion over time?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
God, I want to retaliate when I'm wronged. I want justice. I want people to pay for what they've done. But You're calling me to something higher—to nobility, to integrity, to trust. Help me to depend on You instead of on my own need for revenge. Give me strength to choose the path that honors You, even when it costs me. Amen.