Wednesday July 30, 2025

Dignity, Love, and Holy Resistance

Scripture: Matthew 5:39 “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

Reflection:  When Jesus told His followers to turn the other cheek, He wasn’t asking them to be silent victims or to welcome abuse. He was teaching a radical, nonviolent love that refuses to lose dignity and refuses to strip others of theirs.

Jesus spoke to the ordinary people on that hillside. People weighed down by power structures, insults, and injustice. That was revolutionary back then and It still is today. Turning the other cheek does not mean surrendering to humiliation.  It means standing firm in your God-given worth, exposing injustice for what it is, and inviting your oppressor to see your humanity and theirs more clearly.

Consider This:

• Where in your life are you tempted to strike back when you feel insulted or wronged?
• How is Jesus inviting you to respond with dignity and holy resistance?
• Who around you is carrying a heavy burden, facing injustice, or being stripped of dignity? How can you “walk the extra mile” with them?
• This week when you feel offended. Pause, breathe and remember to respond in a way that honors your worth and theirs?

Pray:  Lord Jesus,
You faced hatred and violence with unstoppable love. So Jesus, when I am tempted to answer hurt with hurt remind me of Your way, the way of courage, dignity, and compassion. Give me strength to stand firm in who I am as Your child,
and grace to see Your image even in those who wrong me. Teach me to walk alongside the hurting, to share my “cloak,” my voice, my time until love has the final word. Amen.

Holy Resistance is love in action. May we be people who do not mirror hate, but transform it with the light of Christ.