Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 08 27 2025 An Eye for an Eye

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08 27 2025 An Eye for an Eye · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too
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  Speaker 1: much because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy
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  Speaker 1: for today's needs. Why then, do some of us expect
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  Speaker 1: yesterday's portion of heavenly manna the word of God to
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  Speaker 1: keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are
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  Speaker 1: going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words
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  Speaker 1: today and receive the power we need to live healthy,
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  Speaker 1: vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host
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  Speaker 1: author speaker, Elle David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. It is Wednesday, August
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  Speaker 2: twenty seven, twenty twenty five. Hello, my name is Elle
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  Speaker 2: David Harris. I am your host, and this is your
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  Speaker 2: Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single
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  Speaker 2: day and today is no exception. We are continuing in
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  Speaker 2: our Lesson study series through the Book of Exodus, and
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  Speaker 2: our caption for today is an I for an eye,
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  Speaker 2: uh oh an I for an eye. Before we get
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  Speaker 2: into that, I'd like to just say welcome to you
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  Speaker 2: and ask you to please go over to your Daily
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  Speaker 2: Portion dot com. Please join our online community, pick up
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  Speaker 2: the Your Daily Portion Life application guide, and let us
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  Speaker 2: know where you are in the world. At your Daily
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  Speaker 2: Portion dot com. This is one of the ways that
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  Speaker 2: we continue to build faith and fellowship. Let's go ahead
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  Speaker 2: and pray, and then we will get underway. Father, we
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  Speaker 2: thank you for this day and for giving us justice.
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  Speaker 2: You've shown us what equal balances are. You've shown us
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  Speaker 2: what the right pathway is. You've shown us how to
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  Speaker 2: deal with conflicts. Please help us to live according to
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  Speaker 2: the truths you have shown us. In Jesus' name, I
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  Speaker 2: pray amen and Amen again. And I for an eye.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, there's some people who have that snapback, bust
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  Speaker 2: back mentality like I'm gonna get back at whoever comes
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  Speaker 2: to me the wrong way. An I for an eye,
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  Speaker 2: Like it's retaliatory, it's reprisals. Yeah, retributive. Yeah, that's how
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  Speaker 2: some people naturally think. But Jesus is teaching something else.
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  Speaker 2: And before some people start beating your drums about passivity,
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  Speaker 2: that is not what we're talking about. So there is
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  Speaker 2: an actual sweet spot right in the middle between passivity
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  Speaker 2: and being retaliatory. And so the Bible reads you have
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  Speaker 2: heard that it was said and I for a knife
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  Speaker 2: and a tooth for a tooth, But I tell you
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  Speaker 2: not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you
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  Speaker 2: on your right cheek, turn the other to him. Also,
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  Speaker 2: if anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic,
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  Speaker 2: let him have your coat also. And whoever compels you
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  Speaker 2: to go one mile with him, give them two. Give
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  Speaker 2: to him that asks you, and from him who wants
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  Speaker 2: to borrow from you. Do not turn away. You have
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  Speaker 2: heard it was said you shall love your neighbor and
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  Speaker 2: hate your enemy. But I say unto you. Love your enemies,
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  Speaker 2: Bless those who curse you, do good to those who
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  Speaker 2: hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and
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  Speaker 2: persecute you, that you may be the sons of your
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  Speaker 2: father in heaven. For he makes his son to rise
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  Speaker 2: on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
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  Speaker 2: on the just and on the unjust. For if you
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  Speaker 2: love those who love you, what reward have you? Do
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  Speaker 2: not even the tax collectors the same? And if you
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  Speaker 2: greet your brethren only, what do you more than others?
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  Speaker 2: Do not even the tax collectors. So therefore you shall
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  Speaker 2: be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
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  Speaker 2: So much to say, so little time. I'm imploring the
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  Speaker 2: teachers in the room that will be teaching in a
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  Speaker 2: few days at Church on the subject to be honest,
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  Speaker 2: keep integrity. As you teach the context of this, I
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  Speaker 2: literally cannot do this in just about four or five minutes.
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  Speaker 2: And so let me give you a quick historical context.
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  Speaker 2: In Jesus's days, the scribes and Pharisees had distorted God's
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  Speaker 2: law by applying what they considered to be judicial principles
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  Speaker 2: to personal relationships. The law of retaliation from Exodus chapter
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  Speaker 2: twenty one and verse twenty four, Leviticus twenty four, verse
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  Speaker 2: twenty and Drooteronomy chapter nineteen and verse twenty one was
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  Speaker 2: originally given to prevent excessive revenge and to limit punishment
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  Speaker 2: to fit the crime. It was never meant to personally
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  Speaker 2: endorse revenge. By the first century, however, this principle had
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  Speaker 2: often been used to justify revenge even in private disputes.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus wasn't removing the law, but restoring its true purpose
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  Speaker 2: and moving his followers toward righteousness. And so when the
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  Speaker 2: Bible says that we are not to resist, that word
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  Speaker 2: for resist is not a blanket command against all resistance,
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  Speaker 2: but the kind in retaliation. There are times that we
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  Speaker 2: must resist. We must get up, stand up, stand up
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  Speaker 2: for our rights. There are times that we have to resist.
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  Speaker 2: We must resist injustice. We must resist when people are
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  Speaker 2: taking advantage and oppress of and oppressing others. God actually
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  Speaker 2: said it, like, is this the kind of fast that
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  Speaker 2: I endorse? That you just walk around with your sad
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  Speaker 2: face and make it look like you're fasting, and you're
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  Speaker 2: still oppressing people. You're not setting anyone free, You're still
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  Speaker 2: underpaying people who do good work for you. Stop all
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  Speaker 2: of that, and by the way, keep the Sabbath holy
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  Speaker 2: at the same time, and then I will accept your fast.
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  Speaker 2: And so that is the blessing of the kind of
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  Speaker 2: resistance that we must have. We should resist all injustice,
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  Speaker 2: resist all wickedness, resist all that is not like God.
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  Speaker 2: And so the command to love even our enemies reflects
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  Speaker 2: God's character. Jesus was not nullifying civil justice, but redirecting
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  Speaker 2: personal conduct to reflect the Kingdom of God. I remember
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  Speaker 2: a young a young woman rest in well. I shouldn't
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  Speaker 2: say rest in peace. She is resting in peace. But
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  Speaker 2: a young woman acts during a Bible study I was
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  Speaker 2: teaching in Trench Town here in Jamaica, and she said, Uncle,
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  Speaker 2: if somebody comes into my home and they break in
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  Speaker 2: and they are about to do something evil or violent?
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  Speaker 2: Am I supposed to just take it? And I said, listen,
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  Speaker 2: I for an I means not I for an arm.
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  Speaker 2: That's what it means. It means that if somebody is
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  Speaker 2: leaving you, you don't run after them and try to
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  Speaker 2: beat them up or kill them. You let the law
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  Speaker 2: deal with that. But if there is a time that
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  Speaker 2: you have to, you have to resist that evil and
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  Speaker 2: defend yourself. Do not go overboard. Do not go overboard.
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  Speaker 2: Whatever force is necessary to deal with the particular conflict
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  Speaker 2: and get up out of there. That is what is necessary.
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  Speaker 2: But when people go overboard or chase and do retribution,
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  Speaker 2: that's when we get outside of the law of God.
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  Speaker 2: And so the focus shifts from legality to grace and transformation.
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  Speaker 2: So let's go with a few concepts here. Give up
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  Speaker 2: the right to get even, give up the right to
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  Speaker 2: get even. It's natural to want justice, that's what we desire.
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  Speaker 2: But in personal relationships, Jesus teaches us to let go
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  Speaker 2: of the payback and pursue peace instead. We're talking about
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  Speaker 2: personal relationships. I need you to get the context. Don't
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  Speaker 2: write me about the difference between Malcolm X and Martin
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  Speaker 2: Luther King Junior like, we don't need to go there.
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  Speaker 2: You understand so, so it's we must not retaliate when
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  Speaker 2: we are hurt. We need to ask what would love do?
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  Speaker 2: Instead of striking back, you step up and choose mercy.
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  Speaker 2: We're talking about relationships. Number two, Be generous without calculation.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus says, if someone takes your coat, offer a cloak
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  Speaker 2: to he's addressing. Free them from material attachment and trust
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  Speaker 2: and trust in God's provision. Loosen your grip when asks
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  Speaker 2: for help. Don't assess the fairness in air quotes, but
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  Speaker 2: respond with kingdom generosity, and then, of course, love your enemies.
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  Speaker 2: Actively move or make excuse me a list of people,
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  Speaker 2: oh who have wronged you? Uh oh, Start praying for
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  Speaker 2: them daily. This reorients your heart and places judgment in
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  Speaker 2: the hands of God. You think God loves his enemies,
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  Speaker 2: we were once enemies until He made us friends.
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  Speaker 1: Peace. Thanks for joining us listening. Friends, Always remember we
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  Speaker 1: cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that
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  Speaker 1: comes from the mouth of God. This has been your
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  Speaker 1: daily portion with el David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,