Proverbs 25 Devotional

Bread for an Enemy

“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.”Proverbs 25:21 (BSB)

Few commands in Proverbs run harder against instinct than this one. When an enemy is hungry or thirsty, the saying tells you to provide him a meal and a drink (25:21). Doing so, it goes on, will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you (25:22). Whatever the image of coals means exactly, the act it describes is generosity, not revenge.

Paul quotes these verses when he tells believers not to repay evil for evil, and he adds his own summary: evil is not defeated by more evil but by good (Romans 12:20-21). The command asks for more than restraint: actual food on an enemy's table. Such kindness makes sense only for people who have been treated with undeserved kindness themselves, by a God who is generous even to those who oppose him. The same chapter warns against pushing yourself forward in the presence of a king (25:6-7). Humility and kindness to enemies grow from the same root, the confidence that God, and not we, will set things right.

To think about: Who has wronged you, and what small, concrete kindness could you offer them this week?