Paybacks? No and Yes - 1 Thess 5:15

Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always pursue to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. (1 Thess 5:15)

As a kid we played the game called "paybacks". I'm not sure it was a game but we tried to do the payback thing when we could. Someone would bump into you and make you spill something and it was "payback time". Whatever the case, paybacks were always a little more exaggerated than the initial incident. And often caused uncontrollable crying for the receiver. 

This may have been what Paul had in mind here. You'll notice that the "evil" wasn't to be paid back but the "good" was to be chased after. And it was to start in church and eventually affect everyone everywhere. 

Jesus put it like this in Matthew 5:38-42

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Jesus was the prime example of this radical behavior. It was the prophet Isaiah who explained what would happen, during Jesus trial and death, in Isaiah 53:7 

He was oppressed and afflicted,

    yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

    so he did not open his mouth.

At the apex of cruelty and abuse Jesus could have responded in anger and annihilated the whole universe! But he didn't even open his mouth to defend himself. He let God's will be played out. And it hurt. That is what we see when we read 1 Thessalonians 5:15 in its context, We see how Jesus' wordless response to wrong was a great example as to how our situations will play out. Look at what Paul says in the next three verses: 

16 Rejoice always, 

17 pray without ceasing, 

18 give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Wow! When we don't payback evil but do payback good it will cause us to always be in an attitude of rejoicing. It will help our prayer life to grow to unstoppable levels and we will begin to understand that EVERYTHING that happens to us is part of God's grand plan. Everything is a part of God's will specifically for us. His will is being realized in the sphere of the person of Christ. When we reach this level of spirituality we will see our life from God's perspective and it will revolutionize our walk with him.