2005-02-25
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
You’ll remember that last week, I began a discussion of revenge, the topic that Christ spoke about in MT 5: 38-42 as a part of the Sermon on the Mount. In this teaching our Lord departs from the old “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” concept found in the Torah [EX 31: 24; LV 34: 20; DT 19: 21]. Instead, He teaches a passive resistance stand of turning one’s cheek. From there, I spoke about how the evil one likes to cause us to revisit our anger about an issue or relationship over and over again, in an effort to refuel it. This is the way that grudges are held and fed. As believers, we must find a way to break through that vicious cycle, seeing it for what it is-the work of the devil.
Understanding what is going on is the first step toward taking action to put this desire for revenge to an end in our lives. The example I gave in last week’s message was of two cousins who held a grudge about a childish disagreement that was allowed to build into losing 30 years of precious interaction with each other. 1) That’s a refusal to interact over time, the simplest kind of revenge. There are others that are more complicated. Another kind of revenge is even more malevolent. 2) It’s the kind where two people have a disagreement or a personality clash followed by deceitful plotting to defeat the other person, which can be anything from malicious gossip to taking other even worse kinds of action behind the other’s back. Sadly, I had this done to me when I was a young woman, by a relative. When I first met this relative, I was naïve enough to think that everyone was as open and straight forward as I am. Therein, was my mistake. Secretly, this relative had been carefully taught by her upbringing to be filled with self-hatred and to take that out on anyone this person viewed to be more successful than herself. Her method was to spread malicious gossip about me that was hurtful and taught me a painful lesson about taking my time in being so open about my personal life with others. 3) The most evil kind of revenge is that where groups of people, like gangs and nations, for example, carry out evil plots to vanquish their enemies. The on-going street wars between the Bloods and the Crips is an example of this. Violence erupts, injuries happen, and lives are sometimes lost-all in the name of showing superiority over their enemies. Mankind’s history is full of tales where kings were poisoned or killed in other ways to swing the balance of power from one place or person to another. None of this kind of behavior brings pleasure to the Lord; it goes against God’s stated purpose in EPH 1: 4-5 to be sure. It also demonstrates a lack of understanding of God’s ultimate sovereignty and superiority over mankind. Think about the truth of PR 21:1, “The Lord controls the mind of a king as easily as He directs the course of a stream.”
Grudge-holding and seeking revenge never accomplishes anything godly or constructive. It doesn’t matter what the individual circumstances or relationship might be, I believe this is always true. In fact, what it does is prevent the opportunity for solving the conflict. In relationships, revenge and the holding of grudges prevents the updating of lie-based thinking with an adult’s perspective against the foundational ethics of God’s word. We are given clear direction about this foolishly evil behavior in EPH 4: 25-27, “No more lying, then! Everyone must tell the truth to his fellow believer, because we are all members together in the Body of Christ. If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Do not give the devil a chance.” The outcome of a grudge held can only be destructive. While the advise of EPH 4: 25-27 applies to relationships between believers, we must be realistic enough to understand that our conflicts are not always going to be with believers. They can occur in the workplace or other venue where it is evident the other party is not a believer. Christ’s teaching makes it clear that the believer must not allow himself to be sucked into holding a grudge and seeking revenge. God’s word on this matter is found in RO 12: 18-19, “Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God’s anger do it. For the Scripture [DT 32: 35] says, ‘I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.’” There are times when a matter can’t get settled to our own satisfaction when we are in a conflict with a non-believer or in a venue where it isn’t appropriate to work with that person, e.g. a boss. That’s the time to put as much distance between ourselves and that person as possible and leave the matter to the Lord. I have first-hand experience that the Lord will keep His promise to protect us.
Our Lord loves us more than we can measure. He calls us on to live lives of holiness [1 PET 1: 16], even though it may mean swallowing our pride at times. He calls us to examine troubled relationships in our lives and to do what we can about them. He also encourages us to trust Him that He will take care of conflicts we can’t settle in His own time and inimitable way. Our task is to remember to be forgiving, remembering EPH 4: 32, “Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.”
PRAYER: O Lord, all too often, we forget the great sacrifice You made for us of Your Son on the cross. This is especially true when we are in conflict with others. Our sinful natures are sorely tempted to commit more sin, and we must rise above that with the power to battle the devil to victory in Christ’s name we have been given [EPH 1: 18-20]. Without the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior, we would be left helpless to avoid sin leading to our own deaths. With it and our submission to Your sovereign power in our lives, we can be victors! This requires our patience to wait on Your perfect time. You have told us this in David’s inspired words of PS 27: 14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” Nehemiah prayed, NE 1: 11, “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this, Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight in revering Your name. Give Your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” While Nehemiah was referring to King Artaxerxes of Persia, the term “this man” could be any person about whom we might pray. There is no question that You intend for us to live in peace with our fellow man. The world’s sinfulness makes this very difficult at times, but Your command is not to be ignored. Repeatedly, You have given us stories in the Scriptures which have demonstrated Your desire for us to turn to You in time of trouble and have shown how You will help us. That is why You prompted Jeremiah to write Your words to him in JER 29: 11-13, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future for which you hope. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me., and I will answer you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me because you will seek Me with all your heart.” Dearest Abba, we offer You our heartfelt thanks and praise for all You are and all You do. We dedicate ourselves to living lives of righteousness, knowing full well that we need Your help to do this. We place our trust and faith in You, as You are our way to eternal life, our only way. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
The Holy Spirit prompts me to write one more message dealing with revenge. Sadly, it’s too much a part of our lives, which is why I believe He feels it’s important for us to spend this time on it. I’m led to share some of what Dr. Edward Smith, the author of Healing Life’s Hurts, has to say about it. In the meanwhile, as we examine troubled relationships in our lives and our own responses to them, we should not lose sight of the love our Lord has for each of us. He has stepped out on a limb not only to give His Son’s life on the cross for us, but to give us the Holy Spirit to dwell within our hearts and to promise us protection from our enemies. Once again He takes the risks for us when He promises to be the one to exact revenge on stubborn evildoers in our lives. That takes the responsibility off of our shoulders and on to His own. Just as we have been relieved of the responsibility to judge, so He has left to Himself the exacting of long-deserved negative consequences to people with a stubborn lifestyle of sin. That way, we know that the punishment will always fit the crime. That frees us to deal with the sin in our own lives, the kind of sin that we can choose to stop committing, if we take the time to uncover it and face whatever emotional pain is necessary to get it out of our lives. No one could ask for a more loving God than the one and only true God. He is our awesome God, the same God Who promises us blessed and blissful eternal life with Him, if we endure in faithful obedience. Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn