Too nice?

Rach: am I too nice for my own good?
Me: why do you ask?
Rach: because last night I brought dinner to a guy at work that was a jerk to me
Me: hmmm… no, not according to Romans 12:20 you’re not.
Me: “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” hehe…

Hehe… I thought I was being funny but was led to ponder a little more deeply the meaning of that verse. I suppose it’s no good if your intent in being kind is out of spite– “to heap coals of fire on their head”, huh? In that case the thought of vengence is probably your sole reward for whatever act of kindness. Verse 21 says:

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

So a guy is a jerk to a girl, she should just be a jerk back? Hate him? Avoid him? Apparently this girl’s roomates had a problem with her doing something nice for this guy who had been a jerk to her. I mean maybe she shouldn’t let her self be used or anything, but is there anything wrong with doing a good deed to someone who might have been rude to you in the past? If anything it might help the other person. If not, you’ve at least kept your hands clean by not becoming “evil” like them, but not letting anger or hate or bitterness get the better of you.

Of course things change a bit if she’s crushing on him and he just uses her. Gotta be careful about that. But I guess if she doesn’t like him like that and this is just an isolated incident… then she did something genuinely good / Christ-like.