Lot had been quick to settle down in the land he should not have; before long he was to lose all his possessions in it. By contrast, as this chapter reminds us, Abram was the Hebrew, the "passer-over," the pilgrim. It is they who are content to remain in transit in the land of promise who have real power against its enemies. Abram had been right to leave the matter of possessions with God, but he would have been quite wrong at the same time to have dismissed Lot from his love and concern. In this he was a true overcomer. Before going out to pursue the kings, he had won the victory in his own spirit. How easy to have nursed a grievance against his self-seeking kinsman! At the very least his attitude to the calamity might justly have been, "You deserve it, I told you so!"
Today also in the Church, as Christ's body on earth, a grievance is no basis for victory. In all such circumstances we too must first win the battle in our own hearts. The bottom line is, "Is this man my brother?" Then no matter how he may have wronged me or injured me, for the Lord's sake, I must love him, pray for him and mobilize all my forces to his aid at any time he has need. "Lord Jesus, forgive on our behalf all who have hurt us and caused us to grieve. Deliver us from an unforgiving spirit by forgiving them to the extent that we neither recall nor remember those hurts and grievances in our heart anymore!"