I Do Good to Them, and I Find Evil
I Do Good to Them, and I Find Evil
Question
What should I do with those to whom I do good, but I find evil in return, and this from people toward me?! How can I give rest to my heart? I have become tired of this treatment…
Answer
1- If you do good to people, and they return it to you with good or with more, perhaps by this you have received your reward on earth (Luke 16:25).
But now, your reward is محفوظ in heaven.
This is one thing, which you ought to rejoice and be glad about.
2- Outside the sphere of recompense and reward, we can ask an important question, which is: What is your goal in doing good?
Do you do good for its own sake, simply because of your love for goodness?
If this is the case, then it does not matter to you what the reaction will be…. Whether your good is received with gratitude, or with ingratitude, or with evil, all of this will not change your good nature. This is because you do not do good for the sake of a return…..
Do you suppose that if you receive no return, you would refrain from doing good?! Far be it.
For you cannot do anything but good, because this is your nature.
And here you present a good example of the good person….
3- Perhaps what happened to you is a test of your endurance.
Or it is a test of the quality of your character…
If you endure your enemies, perhaps this is an ordinary virtue befitting you as a spiritual person… But to endure the offense of someone to whom you have done good, here the path of perfection and nobility appears. And the fact that you endure and do not change your manner is also nobility.
4- This is the image of God. And this is what happened to the Lord Christ.
The Lord who performed works of mercy toward all, and yet they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21).. And their shouting did not affect His goodness and kindness. Rather, He defended them, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
Is this not God, who did not withhold His goodness even from the atheists and those who blasphemed against Him?!
He “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Therefore the Lord said: “If you love those who love you, what reward have you?.. And if you greet your brethren only, what more do you do?” (Matthew 5:46, 47).
5- Another point I would like to tell you is:
Doing good to those who do evil to you makes them ashamed.
In this, Saint Paul the Apostle said: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head” (Romans 12:20).
There is no doubt that he will appreciate your nobility, and appreciate your treatment of him, and will be ashamed. Perhaps he will change his conduct and apologize and learn a lesson from the way you treat him….
Perhaps you say: And what if he is not ashamed, does not apologize, and does not change?!
I tell you: Despite all this, continue doing good to him. And remember the saying of that spiritual father: “Let them do their work, and we do our work.” Their work is to do evil. And our work is to repay with good…
6- Another piece of advice that the Apostle gives you is:
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
If you do good, and they do evil to you, and you change, then the evil that is in them will have overcome the good that is in you… And this should not happen, from a spiritual person like you.
7- As for the fact that you have become tired from the treatment of those to whom you have done good, but they have done evil to you, I greatly appreciate your feeling. Nevertheless, I say to you:
Try to overcome your weariness…
And say to yourself: Every person has his weaknesses, his circumstances, and his pressures. The Scripture says: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). Although he prayed that the sky should not rain, and it did not rain. And he prayed another prayer, and it rained.
The Lord Christ on the cross found an excuse for those who crucified Him…
May you also pray for these offenders, so that the Lord may change their hearts and their lives, and forgive them.
8- If you change because of them due to their offenses, then the saying of Mar Isaac applies to you:
“You become in the position of a judge, not a worshiper”.
The judge holds the scales of justice in his hand, judges and passes judgment. He condemns the offender and the sinner. But you are not in the position of a judge, and your work is to love everyone, even those who offend. And to do good to them, regardless of their actions….
9- Ask yourself: Why do these people repay your good with evil?
Perhaps there is a reason for their behavior that you do not know.
If you know the reason, perhaps you can try to address it, if it is possible to address… And if you do not know, can you sit with these people and reproach them, as the Lord Christ said: “And if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother” (Matthew 18:15).
And if you find that reproaching him will make the matter bigger and produce the opposite result, then there is no need for it…..
Instead of sitting with that offender, sit with yourself, and try to purify your heart, and forget what happened or overlook it. And do not bring back to your memory what has tired you, lest your weariness increase even more.
10- If you do good, and are met with evil, say to yourself:
Perhaps it is a battle from Satan, to prevent me from doing good!
But I will not give him an opportunity to change my conduct or my manner, or to change my heart and feelings toward people, whatever happens…..
Rather, on the contrary, I will continue doing good, for this shames Satan, even if it does not shame those who offend.
May God be with you…..
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