Children's Theology of Hitting Back

Had an interesting conversation with my boys tonight. One of them saw an apparent (to him) contradiction in the Bible and sought clarification from me. I love being able to help form their theology.

There were two passages in question:

But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:39 ESV)

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 ESV)

Their question was: how can I turn the other cheek and also respond in anger when someone harms me? Good question. While there could be long and serious discussion about righteous anger (one boy did refer to Jesus clearing the temple, but it may have been a bedtime stalling tactic...) my answer was fairly simple:

We are to do to others what we wish they would do to us, regardless of how they are (or have) treated us.

When we honor others, when we treat them well, we honor God who made them in his image. We are to love others, in the name of Jesus, with our words and actions, regardless of how they interact with us. Truth be told, most adult struggle with these concepts.