Unlimited: Do Not Take Revenge
Aug 22, 2023 504
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord (Romans 12:19).
We naturally want to play “tit-for-tat” when we feel others have been unfair to us. We don’t let God do his job, which is to make things right. Instead, in small ways and in big ways, we “rush in where angels fear to tread.”
As Jesus was travelling to Jerusalem, he sent on some messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to arrange lodging and food. The Samaritans were the ancestral enemies of the Jews, and they did not welcome Jesus. Then James and John sought revenge, asking Jesus to let them call fire down from heaven to destroy them (Luke 9:54–55.)
Revenge is not the way of Christ.
At the arrest of our Lord, Peter
…reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword (Matt. 26:51–52.)
These disciples were all rebuked by Jesus for their attempt to take revenge, for that is not the way of Christ. Rather, consider the Lord Jesus, nailed to the tree. Not for a single moment did a word of cursing escape his lips, not a single muscle twitched to curl his mouth into a sneer, nor did his eyes narrow in hate.
Instead, Christ forgave.
Spiritual Application
Can you think of a time when you were wronged? What thoughts went through your mind? How did you respond? Was your response worthy of a child of God?
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