Give ‘Em a Little Extra

Ever heard of “BOGO”? I don’t know who actually was the first one to create it, but the first time that i saw it was with Payless Shoes.  They would have a sale every so often that would shorten the phrase of “buy one get one” free to “BOGO”.

This tends to be a popular sales strategy. Not always is it limited to a short-term sale, either. Our local movie theater is having “buy one get one” free tickets on Tuesdays. With the prices of movies going up, that sounds like a good concept to me.

Sunday, we looked at Matthew 5:38-42, where Jesus is addressing the crowd on retaliation.  One could make an argument that he is encouraging “BOGO”.  He is saying that one should give the little extra or offer them a “BOGO”.  They slap one cheek, they get another for free.  They want your outer clothing, give your coat for free. They want for you to go with them one mile, give them the extra for free. Crazy huh…

Here are some applications to choose from to use this week…

• Anger Management ~ Wanting to get revenge or to retaliate is one of our first inclinations. Jesus introduces a concept that reminds one to think about what you’re about to do. Retaliation, even restitution, was not the answer when you were mistreated. It was about giving them that little extra. Offering them one more of whatever it was in the first place, for free. Change your anger to offering something more.
• Vary the “Extra” ~ The text begins by Jesus explaining that they had read about “tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye”.  Whether the “for a ___” part was the exact same or not, maybe you should think about making the little extra something different than they’d ever expect. Keep in mind, whatever it is, it should be genuine. They ask for something of you, and maybe  you can return it with something they wouldn’t expect.  They treat you poorly and you let them know how much you appreciate that life lesson. It would probably just shock them.

It can be so easy to get angry over something. I am not saying that anger is not right.  Nor am I hinting that there are not there times when we should stand our ground.  Those times may fall into a gray area with some – works with some and doesn’t work with others. I think we just need to keep ourselves in check to see what kind of a difference we can make for Him by not retaliating, but to go the extra mile with someone!

Working on giving the little extra…