"I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?"
1 Corinthians 6:5-7
There are several ideas here that are interesting. The first seems to be keeping internal matters private, so as to not set a bad example before the world. Another one is that sometimes, instead of trying to gain justice, we need to accept a disadvantageous outcome for ourselves. It's a really hard idea to live with sometimes, but it is one that we see elsewhere in the scriptures: the idea of "turning the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39, 3 Nephi 12:39). I don't think that God is saying to us "thou shalt be doormats." Rather, he is explaining that often accepting a wrong and moving on is the best choice.
It is difficult to turn our pride way down to imperceptible levels and walk away from arguments, but God asks both of us sometimes--perhaps most of the time. It doesn't mean welcoming abuse from others, but sometimes accepting an insult or a wrong rather than fighting back is the most kind and loving thing that we can do. For instance, when someone writes into a website, or calls a helpline, they are often thinking about something that needs to be corrected or something that is going wrong for them. They often won't be calm or thinking like their best selves. If the person on the other end of that email or help line responds to their insults rather than to the need, then the situation is likely to just escalate into a shouting match. If, instead, the anger is deflected with compassion for the need underlying the insult, often the situation calms down, and problems can be resolved rather than exacerbated.
This sort of situation is what I think that God is asking us to do in real life... to see people's needs, and to try to help them, even when they are being unreasonable. God doesn't always ask this. For instance, we read in Alma 61:14 about Moroni resisting evil with his sword. God didn't expect them to sit by and let a faction take over the government and give up their freedom. Whether to resist or to accept is therefore obviously a decision we have to make with the Lord's guidance, but I think that we can safely say that war is the exception rather than the rule, and that in most cases, we are asked to turn the other cheek, and to be kind to others even when they are not being kind to us, just as God is kind to us despite our frequent unkindness to his children.
Today, let's remember love and kindness and compassion, even to our enemies (Luke 6:27), and that sometimes accepting wrongs is the best choice, rather than bringing more conflict and contention into the situation. Even when the right choice is to fight back (which should probably be very rarely), we have to choose our battles very carefully, with God's help. Let's work on letting go of our pride and doing as God asks rather than what would feel the most satisfying in the moment. That way, not only will we avoid punching a lot of people, but we will learn to be more loving and compassionate in general, and be a part of building a better world.
But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?"
1 Corinthians 6:5-7
There are several ideas here that are interesting. The first seems to be keeping internal matters private, so as to not set a bad example before the world. Another one is that sometimes, instead of trying to gain justice, we need to accept a disadvantageous outcome for ourselves. It's a really hard idea to live with sometimes, but it is one that we see elsewhere in the scriptures: the idea of "turning the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39, 3 Nephi 12:39). I don't think that God is saying to us "thou shalt be doormats." Rather, he is explaining that often accepting a wrong and moving on is the best choice.
It is difficult to turn our pride way down to imperceptible levels and walk away from arguments, but God asks both of us sometimes--perhaps most of the time. It doesn't mean welcoming abuse from others, but sometimes accepting an insult or a wrong rather than fighting back is the most kind and loving thing that we can do. For instance, when someone writes into a website, or calls a helpline, they are often thinking about something that needs to be corrected or something that is going wrong for them. They often won't be calm or thinking like their best selves. If the person on the other end of that email or help line responds to their insults rather than to the need, then the situation is likely to just escalate into a shouting match. If, instead, the anger is deflected with compassion for the need underlying the insult, often the situation calms down, and problems can be resolved rather than exacerbated.
This sort of situation is what I think that God is asking us to do in real life... to see people's needs, and to try to help them, even when they are being unreasonable. God doesn't always ask this. For instance, we read in Alma 61:14 about Moroni resisting evil with his sword. God didn't expect them to sit by and let a faction take over the government and give up their freedom. Whether to resist or to accept is therefore obviously a decision we have to make with the Lord's guidance, but I think that we can safely say that war is the exception rather than the rule, and that in most cases, we are asked to turn the other cheek, and to be kind to others even when they are not being kind to us, just as God is kind to us despite our frequent unkindness to his children.
Today, let's remember love and kindness and compassion, even to our enemies (Luke 6:27), and that sometimes accepting wrongs is the best choice, rather than bringing more conflict and contention into the situation. Even when the right choice is to fight back (which should probably be very rarely), we have to choose our battles very carefully, with God's help. Let's work on letting go of our pride and doing as God asks rather than what would feel the most satisfying in the moment. That way, not only will we avoid punching a lot of people, but we will learn to be more loving and compassionate in general, and be a part of building a better world.
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