Christ counsels us to love our enemies in order that we may be children of God, demonstrating not only His mercy but also our sonship by being peacemakers.

When Jesus commands us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile, He did not present that option as weakness but as powerful demonstrations of spiritual maturity.

After slaughtering Philistines with a donkey's jawbone, Samson prayed perhaps his first truly humble prayer, acknowledging that God had gifted him.

The Sermon on the Mount contains a explanation of what it takes to be a Christian. Matthew 5:38-42 provides the principles behind the 'above and beyond' attitude.

Our society is becoming increasingly violent. The sixth of the Ten Commandments covers crime, capital punishment, murder, hatred, revenge and war.

Jephthah's daughter had every right to be angry, but like her father, she chose not to repay evil for evil and instead yielded to the will of God.

What are we to do when destructive words come our way? We must learn to take everything with much patience and longsuffering, which will result in peace.

A native practice involves leaving a young man on a remote island with only a bow and arrows until he learns to become a man, and God does something similar.

Righteous anger is controlled, short-lived and unselfish, while unrighteous anger is uncontrolled, selfish, hard-hearted, and likely to foster bitterness.

The sixth commandment, forbidding murder, is rare among the Ten Commandments in that a clear line can be drawn between its commission and its consequences.

The Bible states that offenses will come. Here are ways to handle offenses and keep minor irritations from growing into bitterness.

Seeking our will at the expense of the group makes conflict inevitable. Society work only when everyone submits to one another in the fear of Christ.

In his final act as judge of Israel, Samson toppled the pillars, killing more Philistines with his death than he had in his entire lifetime.

Jesus, showing the spirit of the law, warns against rash divorces, taking oaths, invoking God's name frivolously, realizing that a covenant is binding.

Jesus magnifies the Law in Matthew 5, moving beyond the behavior into the motivating thought behind the deed, warning that we do not retaliate in kind.

Jesus emphasized the spirit of the law, which places deterrents on the motive (anger, resentment, envy, revenge), preventing murder from ever taking place.

As God's chosen saints, we must not let our keyboard or mouth defile us. Godly conversation includes stifling the urge to win the argument at all costs.

Longsuffering, or patience, the fourth fruit of the Spirit, is a much needed virtue in a fast-paced, impatient world.

Childlike humility overlooks offenses, but childish pride causes one to strike out in retaliation when feelings are hurt or feathers are ruffled.

Biblically, patience is far more than simple endurance or longsuffering. The patience that God has shown man gives us an example of what true, godly patience is.

Our obligation toward God mandates that we love our fellow human beings, even individuals who have severely wronged us.