Abigail Van Buren, best known for her famous “Dear Abby” column, was once the queen of witty advice.  On one particular occasion, she said something especially thought-provoking: “People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes.”

While it is true firefighters have often used fire to help limit the damage of a forest fire, the end result is always the same — more ashes. Outside the forest, our culture has become a place blazing with some of the hottest and ugliest “fires.” Politics. Racism. Religion. Our world has become an extremely heated and angry place.

To make matters worse, too many in our world are choosing to fight these firey situations with more fire. In other words, they respond to hotheaded people and heated situations by doing the exact same thing. People are slandering, insulting, yelling, rioting, looting, hurting, and seeking revenge on others. It’s fighting fire with fire. And the end result has simply produced more and more ashes.

It’s no surprise that God has the solution, “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9). A nice cold bucket of love, forgiveness, and kindness would do wonders for hot situations like these.

Returning evil for evil will always add to the overall damage.  Using God’s problem-solving techniques will always better than our own. Let’s put out the fires and commit to being a part of the solution in the way God has instructed.

Brett Petrillo