God Exacts Vengeance, So I Need Not Seek Revenge

God Exacts Vengeance, So I Need Not Seek Revenge

Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, “I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,” says the Lord. –Romans 12:19

Have you been unjustly fired, unfairly criticized, or unceremoniously abandoned? Does the cruelty or thoughtlessness or injustice of it cry out from within you, calling for someone to pay for the hurt inflicted on you?

Into the fury of our righteous demands for revenge Jesus speaks, saying that we should love our enemies. To our ears these words sound like God is asking us to be a pushover, to be the loser once again. To us these words seem to deny the basic sense of justice that is a part of our nature as well as God’s. But was Jesus really saying that wrongs do not have to be righted, that no price must be paid for injustice?

Not at all. Jesus doesn’t mean justice won’t be done; he means God will do it. And this is not just something Jesus talked about; it is what he lived. “[Christ] did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly” (1 Peter 2:23). The most innocent man who ever lived suffered the most outrageous injustice ever inflicted, and yet he refused to carry the burden of revenge, turning it over to God because he knew God would settle it in a just way. Do you believe there is a God in heaven? Would you show that belief by allowing him to avenge the evil done against you? Would you release your right of revenge to God?

It’s natural to want the people who have hurt us to pay with pain—the same measure of pain they have caused us. This is what comes naturally to us. However, we are not people who live by natural means, but by the supernatural Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit enables us to let go. Letting go of your right to revenge means releasing your hurt, confident that God sees the wrong done to you, that he perceives the motives of those who hurt you more clearly than you do, and that he will settle all accounts with perfect justice. Refusing to seek revenge is not merely a rule we should keep, but a miracle we can experience, a grace we can receive. Are you willing to welcome this grace? Will you surrender your rights and entrust revenge to your God?

Can I truly trust you, my righteous Defender, to take vengeance on my behalf? It seems like a costly surrender to give up my right to revenge. How I need your Spirit to pry it from my hands and entrust it into yours.

DIGGING DEEPER