Give Up Revenge

 

Moving through the Lenten Series of Giving Up we come upon giving up revenge.  I will personally share that this can be one of the most difficult areas of behavior to actually execute upon.  There are a multitude of times during a day, week, month or year when we can point to situations where we have been ‘wronged’.  Stolen from, lied to, and cheated on are just a few of the events in life that has us thinking, saying or doing, “I’ll get even for that!”  Being hurt is a very raw emotion and responding to emotion with emotion can be a recipe for disaster.

Our ability to process emotional hurt or anger without responding with a strong level of emotion doesn’t seem to equate.  Similar to the scenario of being punched in the arm – your first reaction may be to punch back the person who did that to you.  The same follows through with revenge.  When we have been lied to, we believe we are justified to lie back.  When we have been cheated on, we may believe the right thing to do is to cheat on the cheater or take other actions.  These immediate emotions are the human side of our lives, that visceral response to hurt.

I’m certain we can all point to at least one time in our lives where we wanted the person that hurt us to ‘see how it feels’.  Yet, that is not what Jesus says we need to focus on.  There are many times throughout the Bible God shares with us to ‘leave the revenge to him’.

·       The Sermon on the Mount where He shares “Do not take an eye for an eye”.

·       In 1 Peter 3:9 it is shared, “Do not repay evil with evil.”

What are we supposed to do when someone hurts us so deeply, just walk away?  The answer is YES!  God doesn’t want us to respond.  When God promises something, He follows through.  His promises are always kept, He never lets us down.  We may not see all of God’s blessings in our lives even in our lifetimes.  After we are long gone, God will bless our descendants.  So, when He says, “It is mine to revenge; I will repay,” we need to believe He will keep that promise too.  By letting go of the hurt and revenge and giving it to God, we free ourselves!  Giving up the need for revenge frees OUR souls, not the person we would revenge upon.  God wants us to give Him our hurt so our hearts can love again.  God wants us to give Him the revenge so our souls can have peace. 

How do we do this?  Through prayer!  Praying and offering our hurt feelings to God frees us from the burden of the hurt.  If you are like me, this can be difficult to do.  I have a tendency to ‘giveth and taketh away’, giving my burdens and worries to God and then taking them back!  Yet, constant prayer brings release, and giving up the revenge you feel only brings what God wants for us, peace and love.

Dearest Lord, thank you for being our avenger!  Thank you for taking the hurt and disappointment that turns to revenge away from me.  I have faith that YOU will take action when and if the time is right.  May I continue to always believe in God’s wrath on my behalf.  Amen!