Breaking The Cycles Of Evil

 Medea, A Tale Of Revenge

Matthew 5:39

ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ: ἀλλ' ὅστις σε ῥαπίζει εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα [σου], στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην: 

 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

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Jesus speaks of the tendency to evil and how to break the cycles of violence and revenge.

Jesus does not say that if someone strikes your left cheek, turn to him the right also, and if he then strikes the right, then turn back the left for another wallop, and so on. This is not an invitation to become a punching bag.

This saying tells us to make our first response a peaceful response.

If the first response is a peaceful response, we have gone a long way in short circuiting the cycle of recurring violence, revenge, and vendetta.
A subsequent response may indeed be non-peaceful and bellicose, but if it has followed after an initial heartfelt peaceful response, it will be unlikely to be a sharp and unthinking strike of malevolence and hatred. First responses that are angry are filled with passion.
Passions die down over time.

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