The teachings in these verses are perhaps the most difficult principles to put into practice. They are the law. And the more difficult the law to follow, the greater are the rewards for they who choose to live it.
Matthew 5 : 38-42 KJV
38. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40. And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away they coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Bruce R McConkie on Retaliation
Retaliation–with the inevitable bitterness and smallness of soul that attends it–cannot do other than keep hatred alive in the souls of men. If a man gouge out the eye of his neighbor, what benefit accrues to the wounded person if he retaliate by gouging out the eye of the offender? He has enlarged his own soul, or has he permitted it to shrivel to the same smallness as the soul of his attacker? “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” Jesus said, using words, found in the law of Moses, that summarized both the letter and the spirit of those ancient rules. “But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil.” he continued, “but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Luke preserves for us the more complete account and meaning of Jesus’ saying on this point: “And unto him who smiteth thee on the cheek, offer also the other: or, in other words, it is better to offer the other, than to revile again. And him who taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. For it is better that thou suffer thine enemy to take these things, than to contend with him. Verily I say unto you, Your Heavenly Father who seeth in secret shall bring that wicked one into judgement.”
“Contention leads to bitterness and smallness of soul; persons who contend with each other shrivel up spiritually and are in danger of losing their salvation. So important is it to avoid this evil that Jesus expects his saints to suffer oppression and wrong rather than lose thier inner peace and serenity through contention. ‘He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me,’ he told the Nephites, ‘but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.'”( 3 Nephi 11:29)
–Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, Vol. 2, Chapter 42
Bruce R. McConkie on the Legal Process
To his apostles and ministers–those whose talents and strength must be devoted, without hindrance, to the preaching of the gospel and the building up of the kingdom–Jesus had this special counsel: “And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have it; and if he sue thee again, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him a mile; and whosoever shall compel thee to go with him twain, thou shalt go with him twain. Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
Nothing is so important as the spread of truth and the establishment of the cause of righteousness. The petty legal processes of that day must not be permitted to impede the setting up of the new kingdom.
–Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, Vol 2, Chapter 42