Vengeance fixes your attention on life’s ugliest moments. Score settling freezes your stare at cruel events in your past. Is that where you want to look?

Will rehearsing and reliving your hurts make you a better person? By no means – it will destroy you. Revenge moves God away from the equation. It replaces God. I’m not sure you can handle this one, Lord. You may punish too little or too slowly.  I’ll take this matter into my hands. So God reminds us in Romans 12:19, “I’ll do the judging. I’ll take care of it” (my paraphrase).

Only God assesses accurate judgments. Vengeance is his job. Leave your enemies in God’s hands. Forgiveness is not endorsement of misbehavior. You can hate what someone did without letting hatred consume you.

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