Our first reaction to a perceived wrong against us is to retaliate. We want the person or persons who did this to us to pay. Our urge is to do something to make them feel our pain...and then some! If we act on our initial instinct, we may or not feel better. Depending on where your heart is, you may take great pride in your accomplishment. It may give you a warm fuzzy feeling each time you think about it.
If your heart is with God, however, you let the feeling pass. Sometimes we shove it down, other times we let it go, but the road to healing is understanding that vengeance in the Lord's, not ours. Broken relationships are littered with the actions and words of retaliation. It may make you feel better in the short term, but we are asked by God to love all people, not just the nice ones! Love, of course, is an action, not a feeling. Showing love to those who appear unloveable takes work, patience, and prayers. Here is a prayer for the next time someone does you wrong:
Heavenly Father, my human instinct is to inflict pain on those who inflict pain on me. An eye for an eye seems the only way to make me feel better. Please slow down my reaction to wrong doing long enough for me to see that revenge has no good ending. It is Your desire for us to love one another in Your name. You have forgiven our sins so that we may forgive others. Your Son was wronged more than anyone and He died when He could have retaliated. Give me the heart to turn the other cheek today! AMEN
Matthew 5:43-48
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