“If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”—Matthew 5:41.

Jesus was referring here to the practice of Jewish people being forced to carry a Roman soldier’s equipment for him. The people hated to have to do that for the despised Romans. So when Jesus says to go an extra mile, he was talking about a radical lifestyle of doing more than is expected of you.

Several years ago, I got a phone call from an unhappy neighbor. It seems that someone had cut down a tree on my property, and the tree smashed the barbed wire fence that separated his property from mine. The man wanted to know what I planned to do about it. I assured him that I would do something to make it right.

After I hung up the phone, I went to the farm supply store and bought a roll of barbed wire. Then I drove to my neighbor’s house and gave him the wire, which was far more than was needed to do the repairs. I also told him that I would help him fix the fence whenever it was convenient for him.

My neighbor wasn’t mad anymore. I had listened to him and acknowledged that he had a legitimate problem. I responded to his concern in a way that far exceeded his expectations. It has a wonderful effect on people when you go that extra mile like Jesus says we should.

Can you recall a time when you went a second mile for someone? How did that person respond? How did it make you feel?