Evil for evil

Sir STANLEY MATTHEWS was one of the most famous English players of all time.

Being voted European Footballer of the Year in 1956, he carried on playing professional football until he was 50.

Much is said of him, as one of the most important examples that football has given to the sporting world.

In Spain we enjoy the talent of another great sports personality, DONATO, who continued to play at the highest level for Deportivo La Coruña well into his 40's.

However, it is true to say that football is a sport in which bad intentions, and giving blow for blow, tend to be attitudes that are all too common.

We have talked several times about violence in sports stadium. The Bible teaches us some fundamental truths about the reason for violence, a verse that reveals one of them, maybe the most common one, says: returning evil for evil.

It is one of the characteristics of so- called vandal groups. All these groups have their own symbols, and war songs.

All carry 'arms' to the sports fields. To fight their 'enemies' is the reason for their existence, and sport is no more than a lid that they lift up time and again to empty out their rubbish.

We should not, however, lay all the blame for violence at the feet of certain 'football fans'. It may be that we also have a tendency towards violence.

When something happens that makes our blood boil, a situation of obvious injustice, we often think that the answer is to get our revenge as soon as possible. It is a normal feeling,but we should never allow ourselves to get carried away by this type of reaction.

In what way are we different from those who don't know God? I trust that we are different in many ways, but one of them should definitely be in the way we react.

A Christian should never respond with evil for evil, much less evil for good. The Bible says that for the person who does such a thing, evil will never depart from their house.

There is a different way of living. God himself has provided the greatest example of returning good for evil.

God did all that was possible - or even impossible - for us, even though we were his enemies because of our sin.

That should also be our form of behaviour and it's the example that we are to follow: doing good whatever we receive.