Revile Not

The Lord gave this instruction to Martin Harris: “And thou shalt declare glad tidings, yea, publish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see. And thou shalt do it with all humility, trusting in me, reviling not against revilers” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:29-30). To revile means “to assail with contemptuous or opprobrious language; address or speak of abusively.” As disciples of the Savior, we are to never speak that way to others, even when they address us in that kind of language. Instead, we need humility as He said here. The Savior similarly counseled Thomas B. Marsh, “Be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile. Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast” (Doctrine and Covenants 31:9). We need patience and meekness to resist the urge to revile when others revile us. Mormon recorded a time among the Nephites when “some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railing for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions, and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and penitent before God” (3 Nephi 6:13). We must not return “railing for railing” but rather seek to be only “penitent and humble before God” when others revile. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said we would even be blessed because others revile us: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matthew 5:11). I believe, though, that this blessing is contingent upon us responding to the reviling as He would. Peter described how the Savior “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:22-23).

Jesus showed this many times with His actions. For example, after suffering in Gethsemane, He was arrested through the nefarious actions of Judas. When Peter responded impulsively and struck one of the men with a sword, the Savior calmly “touched his ear, and healed him” (Luke 22:51). When He was struck on the face while being judged, Jesus responded with perfect calmness: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil” (John 18:23). After the Roman soldiers mocked Him and put Him on the cross, He prayed to the Father, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And when one of the “malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and use,” he did not respond or revile back. Rather, He listened calmly and then comforted the other man: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:34, 43). He was always perfectly in control, never reviling even in the midst of terrible injustice. Nephi summarized the Savior’s incredible goodness despite all the mistreatment He received: “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men” (1 Nephi 19:9). He never reviled; He preferred to suffer patiently through the reviling and with great loving kindness for even His enemies.

               And so the Savior is our perfect example of how to live, never reviling but always showing great love to all those around us. We would do well to remember this powerful invitation from Alma, “And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them; But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions” (Alma 34:40-41). We need patience and humility and hope to ignore the revilers and follow His perfect example to love even our enemies.