MLK: How Can You Break Out of the Descending Spiral Today?
“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy; instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Lamech, who collects women as property, brags that he is more vicious and violent than anyone else.
Genesis 4-11 describes what Martin Luther King, Jr., called a “descending spiral” of violence: you hit me, and then I hit you back harder.
The only way out is sacrificial love. The only way to break the cycle is grace—to give your enemy not what he deserves, but grace.
With whom can you break the descending spiral today by showing grace?
P.S. From where did Cain get his wife? Short answer: we don’t know. Longer answer: either it was his sister (remember Genesis 4-11 is what happens when people do what is right in their own eyes), or there were other people created that we didn’t hear about.