REVENGE
Putting vengeance in its proper place
In ancient Israel, God gave a very strict civil law for the Jewish people to follow. For example, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (Exodus 21:24, 25) This was the law of the nation of Israel: exact justice for any wrong done to another.
In the New Testament, Jesus taught that Christians should live their personal lives in an entirely different way. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45)
Revenge, is rooted in our desire to get back at someone for a wrong that they have done to us. We tend to be very sympathetic to ourselves when we do wrong to others. However, we have little patience with others when they wrong us. The Bible does not teach that revenge is wrong. It just teaches that revenge does not belong to us. It belongs to God.
How to turn your desire for revenge over to God.
1. Pray for your enemies.
In Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus told us to do good to and pray for our enemies. When you start to pray for someone who has wronged you, God will begin to remove the bitterness from your heart. This will release you from self-destructive hatred.
2. Don’t take revenge.
In Romans 12:19, God cautions us to not take revenge into our own hands. Our revenge results in limited, human judgment. Often, it gets us in trouble with the law and in a worse situation than before!
3. Give place to wrath.
The proper place for wrath is with God. Turn your wrath over to Him. He never misses His target! Not only will God carry out perfect revenge for wrongs done, but you will not get in trouble for doing something foolish!
Mercy
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) Mercy is not giving someone what they deserve. God commands His children to be merciful because He is merciful. God forgave us after we rejected His Son. He forgave us after our sins put Jesus on the cross. Why can we not show mercy to others?
God’s revenge is always just. What right do you and I have to take more revenge than God? God’s revenge may be slower than ours. That is because God is wiser than us, and knows the proper time and place for vengeance. He also gives time for repentance because He is merciful. His revenge may seem kinder than ours. This is because God knows people’s hearts. While we cannot always see repentance, God can. Just because God’s revenge is slower and may seem kinder than ours, that doesn’t mean that it is less effective. God’s revenge is always perfectly effective because it is perfectly righteous.
It would do all of us good to show more mercy. The thing you’re thinking will destroy the person who wronged you, will actually destroy you. A desire for vengeance will eat away at your life. It will cause you to lose sleep and ruin your health. Turn vengeance over to God. He is an expert. You are not.