"Beloved, do not avenge yourself, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." Romans 12:19 NKJV
When someone upsets or hurts us it can be natural to retaliate and do the same to them. This is the way that the world has taught us. Tempers can flare at times such as this and there can be an urgent desire to attack or defend ourselves. If we don't retaliate, we can be classed as a coward. However, when we observe Jesus' attitude to such things we see that He never retaliated. Take for instance the cross and the pain and humiliation that He endured but hardly said a word. He didn't avenge this torture even though He could have called on angels to help Him. He chose to leave the payback time to His Father.
Be honest with yourself, how many times in your day, are you tempted to attack or defend yourself when you have been wronged. Quite often I would think. It is natural to do so and if we don't, we can be burning inside with anger. However, with Jesus on our side, we never have to repay anyone, He will do this for us if we allow Him to. Are you open to the fact that the reason He has not dealt with your enemy yet, is because you are still in the way? How can this happen? The answer to this is, we hold grudges, we sulk or slander the person who has hurt us. We become like a dog with a bone, we bury it, walk away and then return and dig it up again. It never comes to rest. If we see the person, we glare at them and there is no sign of love or forgiveness. We can even take communion while we hold these feelings towards someone. The answer to this is to give it to God.
Are you carrying a grudge against someone and having conversations with yourself of what you would like to do to them? God gives you a promise here. He says that vengeance is His and He will repay but, you have got to pass it over to Him and stop this attacking and defending that is taking place in your heart. It is eating you away and you can go no further in your spiritual life until you surrender it to Jesus. Do it today, forgive them and be free and God will take care of the rest.
Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard
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