Walking with the Wise #496: God’s Boomerang

“If you set a trap for others,


you will get caught in it yourself.

If you roll a boulder down on others,

it will crush you instead.”
—Proverbs 26:27 (NLT)

The golden rule is simple: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets”—Matthew 7:12. Doing good to others is what God expects, and while this is the highest good that could ever be done to another, the converse is also true—plan to do evil to someone else and that evil will come back to you. It’s God’s boomerang—of blessing when you do good and harm when you want to hurt.

Do not seek to harm or hurt another. Malice, deceit, scheming, and harm may be within the heart of fallen man, but such devices have embedded within them the germination of blessing or burden, of great help or harm, of heavenly regard or hellish revenge, and for us who bear the name of Christ, we must recognize the evil we are capable of. As much as we are able, we must amputate all inclinations of evil toward our fellow man, seeking their blessing so that they too also might see Jesus Christ. It is not in our angry words or revengeful actions that God is pleased, but in the goodness we do. As God was good to us in bringing about our repentance (Romans 2:4), so should we be for the same reason.

Don’t plan harm or revenge on others. Rather, remember what God has said: “vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord”—Romans 12:19. By faith we entrust ourselves to Him, continually being kind, hoping and praying for the repentance of those with whom we disagree, but also remembering that He will do that which is fair, just, and right in His sight. to the glory of His wondrous, most holy, and awesome name. Amen.