Revenge: the Trap
Man isn’t it?! This is the fatal step of becoming the bait of Satan…retaliation. Revenge is completely unscriptural. Just look at what happened to Cain when he took revenge on his brother Abel for being the one who pleased God….he was cursed forever. I’m sure Potiphar’s wife may very well have gone to hell for lying about Joseph, the Lord’s anointed, and causing him to have gone to prison. Look at what happened to the young man who killed Saul-thinking that David would be pleased with this man having taken his “revenge” out on him for all the years of persecution… he, in turn, was killed.
Revenge is one of the most well-known “no-no’s” in Christianity, but also one of the easiest to fall to. Romans 12:19 says, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” The Lord will cast the final judgment, therefore we do not need to. Vengeance rests with the Lord.
I know there were several times (especially in my younger days) when I tried to take vengeance into my own hands. One episode in particular stands out in my mind: I was probably seven or eight years old, in daycare at my elementary school, and I remember that there was this one girl who was tall and pretty (her mother was a model with a keen resemblance to Barbie). She was very popular and set the standard for what was cool and what was not. I was very much a loner then and was content to play by myself. I would sit on the carpet and watch a certain children’s television show featuring a large, purple dinosaur. She took notice of this and constantly made fun of me in front of all the other kids. But it didn’t end there; she began making fun of the things I would wear, the crafts I did, the way I did my hair…everything. Obviously, I was offended by her and grew to hate her. One day, after about a year or two of her picking on me, I was fed up and so full of hurt, anger, and embarrassment inside that I walked right up to her on the playground and punched her in the face! This, of course, started a fistfight that ended with a few bruises and black eyes, with the teachers frantically pulling us apart.
I will never forget that experience, and I will also never forget the horrible example I set for that girl. Had there been any possibility for reconciliation with her, becoming her friend, or finding out what was making her act out so, I had surely annihilated it.
I urge all Christians to pray and search their hearts daily to think of those who have offend them, those they may not like, or those they are not friends with, and pray that God would help them find a way to begin a relationship with them…and let Christ take over. “All things work together for His glory.”
