But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. The do not resist that Jesus commands is not passive acceptance of all injustice but the refusal to meet violence with violence on the personal level. The right cheek slap was a specific insult in the ancient world — striking someone on the right cheek with the right hand required a backhand, which was the gesture of humiliating someone of lower social standing. Turning the other cheek is not masochism but a defiant refusal to play by the humiliator's rules — it refuses the options of submission or retaliation and creates a third way that disarms the power dynamic. Romans 12:21 says do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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