Revenge is sweet. Revenge is mine, sayeth the Lord. Two different ways of looking at something that we believe makes us whole after we have been wronged. Here are some of the statements the bible has made about revenge.
You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.
May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.
As a new Christian, one of the things I have learned is that God wants us to leave revenge up to Him. That’s His job. We are not to take that on ourselves, even if we feel righteous in doing so. If you are wronged by someone, don’t try to avenge yourself, leave it to God.
This might be easier said than done. Not only are we asked not to take revenge on our wrongdoers, but to forgive them! How crazy does that sound? Forgiving them is actually for your own sake, not for the wrongdoer. It lifts the burden off of you so that you can go on with your life. It doesn’t excuse the wrong that was done; it doesn’t take away the resultant pain, but it releases its hold on you so that you can move on.
We have all been there. We have all experienced pain (whether physical, emotional or both) at the hands of another. In that moment, all we want to do is lash out. We want the other person to experience the same pain that was inflicted on us, by their hand. The very idea of revenge tastes sweet. People have been tasting it for centuries. How difficult is it to give that up? The instant gratification of knowing you have paid someone back.
There are obvious overt ways to take revenge on someone. And then there is a not so obvious way – it’s called “passive aggression”. This is when you get even with someone who has hurt you but in a very subtle, almost sneaky way, where they never see it coming. This might taste even sweeter, at the time. In my lifetime, I have been very guilty of this type of “revenge”. Not very Christian like for sure, but I have always enjoyed it. It felt justified. I was the judge and jury and I meeted out the punishment. What’s wrong with that?
According to the bible, it is very wrong. I’m not saying it is easy not to retaliate, but in the long run it is better for your soul.
I am thinking about serious crimes. When these occur, we must let our justice system take over the position of judge and jury. And I know as I write this, that sometimes our justice system fails. That’s when we might expect God to step in. (O.J. Simpson comes to mind.)
You may not be a believer. It might make more sense to you to avenge the wrongs in your life. I am merely asking you to think about what I am saying. Hurting someone who hurt you – does that ultimately make everything right again? Does it make you feel better? Only you can answer that.
I realize that there are many times in your life where it doesn’t make sense to not take action. I am still learning about the tenants of Christianity and what is expected of us. But as I learn, I will pass some of the lessons on to you. And then you can decide what you want to do with them.
Food for thought!