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Doing Right
Even When Wronged!

Qorintyah Bet (2nd Corinthians) 13:7
And we pray to Elohim that you do no evil at all – not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is right, even though we should appear unapproved.

In this rather obscure verse at the end of Shaul’s second letter to Qorintyah, Shaul is explaining to the talmidim in that city that regardless whether he may appear to have done wrong, they should do what is right.  There is a very important principle contained in this verse.  That principle can be stated as:  Each person is to do right regardless of whether another person or persons is doing right or wrong.  To say it another way, when another person does wrong, it is not an excuse for us to do wrong.  Yeshua taught us this as well.

Luqa (Luke) 6:27-28
27 “But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you,
28 bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.”

The typical human response is when someone does us wrong is to do wrong back, to get even.  When a person does this he is showing who his father is and it is not YHWH Tzava’ot!  We are not to do evil unto any man for any reason.  We are not to live our lives as reactionaries, rather we are to live listening to and obeying the Voice of YHWH our Elohim.

This is exactly where we miss it many times, because when a person does us wrong we tend to get emotional and when we get emotional, then we do things rashly.  And when we do things rashly, then we are not operating in His Spirit.  And when we are not operating in His Spirit, then we are doing the works of the flesh.  And if we are doing the works of the flesh we are not walking towards life, but are pursuing death.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 30:15 
“See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil.”

The person who has done a wrong towards us may deserve like treatment.  However, we are to show that we are sons of the Most High El by not doing evil in return for evil.

Luqa (Luke) 6:35-38
35 “But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be sons of the Most High; for He is kind toward the unthankful and evil.
36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
37 And judge not, and you shall not be judged; and condemn not, and you shall not be condemned; release, and you shall be released;
38 give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom.  For with what measure you measure it shall be measured to you again.”

It is a very easy and human thing for us to fall into the mode of giving out what we receive.  If this is all we ever do in this life, then we are no different than those of the world.  This is Mashiach Yeshua’s whole point in this passage.  We are not to be like the world.  Rather we are to be sons of the Most High in doing right to all men regardless of what they do to us.  If the world hates us and mistreats us and despitefully uses us, then we simply love them and bless them.

Let us also consider what is said to us on this matter in the Psalms.

Tehillim (Psalm) 34:14 
Depart from evil, and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.

As we are taught in Torah and by Mashiach, so also we see this same principle in the Psalms.  We are to do good.  We are to stop doing evil.

Tehillim (Psalm) 37:27 
Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell for evermore.

Notice in this Psalm that connected with doing good is eternal life.  This same idea is found in the Torah as well when YHWH tells us to choose life by doing good.  The contrast to this is that if we choose to do evil, then we are choosing death rather than life.  It is by one’s actions that he chooses life or death, not by his words alone.

Tehillim (Psalm) 35:12 
They reward me evil for good,
To the bereaving of my soul.

I have experienced far more than I would like to have experienced.  Many times when a person does good for another person it is misjudged as evil.  When this happens what is returned many times is evil for the evil that is wrongly perceived.  This often happens because a person’s heart is not right within himself in the first place.  He sees evil motives where none exist because he is looking through his own evil motives and places those upon others when they do not exist in the other person. 

When a person is operating in a self-serving mode and mindset, then when another person is operating within the boundaries of Torah and listening for His Voice, this is often perceived wrongly.  This is especially true if the person who is operating within the boundaries of Torah is a person in authority and the other person who is attempting to act selfishly is under that person’s authority.  The one under authority will often perceive right as an opposition to his own personal desires and call it evil and respond in accordance with this wrong belief.

It is this type of action that bereaves another person.  Any person who has had any type of authority over another one knows this type of grief.  All parents have more likely than not experienced this bereavement.  This is why Scripture teaches us the following.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 13:17 
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them; for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief; for this would be unprofitable for you.

It would be unprofitable in the sense that such actions are pursuing death and not life.  It is pursuing evil and not good.  We are to pursue life and good at all times.

Mishle (Proverbs) 11:27 
He that diligently seeks good seeks favor;
But he that searches after evil, it shall come to him. 

Make no mistake about it, if a person dishes out evil, then evil he shall receive.  This is the eternal principle of sowing and reaping in action. 

Galatians 6:7-10
7 Be not deceived; Elohim is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that sows to his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.
9 And let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith.

Brothers and sisters, there are times when we all feel like throwing up our hands and saying, “Oh, what’s the use?” and simply giving up!  We have all felt like this at times.  However, we are admonished that we should not give up.  We should continue to do good at all times and to all people and at the proper season we shall reap what we have sown. 

In these days of restoration this can be especially frustrating as we see evil abounding more and more.  However, let us prayerfully consider what YHWH has said through the prophet Amos.

Amos 5:15 
“Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that YHWH Elohei Tzava’ot, will be gracious to the remnant of Yoseph.”

To those of us from the house of Yoseph who are now returning to YHWH and to His Torah, YHWH speaks to us right now today.  He is saying that we are to establish justice.  He is telling us that we are to do what is right in His eyes!  We are to do what is good.  We are to stop doing what is right in our own eyes and do what is right in His eyes!

“…do what is right…”

ABBA YHWH, fill us with knowledge and understanding of what is right and good in Your eyes and then give us the strength to do it; in the name of Yeshua our Mashiach.  

Amein and Amein.

Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com

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