Bible Summary:

Jesus tells the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount not to seek revenge as the old “eye for an eye” laws say, but to offer the other cheek to your aggressor, to give the thief your coat as well, and to give whenever someone asks.

My Thoughts:

Teaching meekness?: It sure seems Jesus is teaching everyone to be meek, to roll over and accept all the bad in life with a smile on their face. In reality, he is teaching them the strength of not allowing their emotions to take over a situation, getting them further into trouble. He is also teaching them not to seek revenge to remove the strife which can last for generations as long, drawn-out feuds between families where the descendants do not even know the original reason for the disagreement.

Teaching Followers Non-Violence: I believe Jesus had the foresight to realize his followers would be persecuted by the authorities for his beliefs which were different than the established laws and customs of the time. It does not matter that he was teaching good, just that it was different. To reduce this persecution, he conducted the first campaign of non-violence that set in motion a religion that would dwarf the Jewish faith and now encompasses one-third of the people around the world.

Mohandas Gandhi copied these non-violent methods to free India from British rule and Martin Luther King, Jr. copied them to gain civil rights for all Americans regardless of race, religion, or any other reason to separate people.  Non-violence works.

Walk Away: So the next time you are in a quarrel, put yourself in good company like Jesus, Dr. King, and Gandhi, and be strong enough to walk away until the other person cools off.