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I really enjoy playing practical jokes on my wife and once in a while she tries to do the same to me as well. Joyce frequently likes to hide the bath towel from me while I am in the shower. Once she thought it would be funny to fill a pitcher full of cold water and then dump it over my head while I was in the shower. As she was laughing out loud at my demise I informed her that if you mess with the big dog you will get bitten every time. So I began planning my revenge. I told her that she needed to sleep with one eye open because when she least expected it I would exact my revenge. About a week later I seized my opportunity. The garden hose was connected to the hydrant on the front of the house. I turned it on and let it run until the warm water was out of the hose and it was running ice cold. Then I drug the hose through the living room, hallway and into the bathroom. I climbed up on the toilet so that I would be sure not to miss my target and then I unleashed the cold water. Joyce screamed at the top of her lungs and did her best to get out of the stream of cold water but I kept it coming until my revenge was complete!!! Revenge for most of us is almost like an involuntary reflex reaction. You’ve got to admit, it’s almost automatic. If someone pushes you, the natural response is to immediately push back. Of course, some don’t respond immediately. You’ve heard the saying, "Revenge is a dish best served cold.” If they did it to you, you should do it to them worse! The Bible tell us to deny our automatic, natural response to get revenge. Needless to say, this is very hard to do.
Romans 12: 18-19 NIV If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 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.
The Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 12, bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not take revenge. On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. Paul’s plea here is not to pretend that it doesn’t hurt, or to convince yourself it’s not that big of a deal. No, it does hurt, and it is a big deal. It’s one thing to not plan your revenge against that person that has hurt you, but the Bible says to takes it one step further: not only don’t get your revenge, but actively bless those that have hurt you. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
Romans 12: 20-21 NIV On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
It’s one thing to forgive someone and not seek to get your revenge, but can you imagine doing something that will bless or help the person who hurt you? To repay evil with evil is to immediately lose the battle to evil. The only way to defeat evil is by doing good to the one who has done you harm. In other words, if you hate a person who has wronged you, then that person has won! I have to admit that I don't do a good job and blessing those how have hurt me. I struggle. To be honest, that’s why I go to church, to be reminded of these things, and to encouraged. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. So the next time your plotting you
