Vengeance is Mine

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Romans 12:19

When a believer chooses to live for God, opposition will come; hurts, insult and persecution were the norm in the early church. We can get angry, discouraged and hurt, and, at times, tempted to retaliate. Paul was admonishing the Roman Christians to respond righteously when they felt the desire to respond with anger and vengeance. Paul’s admonishment was threefold.

To resist the temptation to avenge ourselves. It is never the spirit of the Lord Jesus to retaliate or fight back because that is what was taught by the Lord Jesus Himself. He teaches us to bless in word when we are cursed, to pray for those who despitefully use us, to be kind to those who are unkind to us. He also teach us by deed to forgive when persecuted with a great example shown at the cross. Christ still befriended Judas Iscariot, though Judas had betrayed Him. We are not to avenge ourselves: this is the teaching of the Bible.

To relinquish the place we want to take revenge in and give up that place to the Lord.  (But rather give place unto wrath) It is the Lord who will fight for His children; it is the Lord who will requite and deal with every wrong. When we take things into our own hands, we often fall short of the desired result and therefore it will leave us more frustrated, more unsatisfied and more angry. However, when we are willing to allow God to handle the issue at hand, we can trust that the outcomes are much better and the results will be peace and rest.

To realize that the Lord will fight for us. As God’s child, God will not allow His children to be taken advantage of and bullied. If His children are brought low, God will uphold them with the right hand of His righteousness. If His children are being starved, God will provide the needs. When the Assyrian general came to threaten to destroy Judah, King Hezekiah told his people to be silent before the Lord and wait upon the Lord. In one night, God destroyed the Assyrian army of 185,000 soldiers and killed the king of Assyria Himself. God will not allow the righteous to be moved.

Vengeance is a human proposition, a fleshly desire to get even. This must never be the attitude or action of a child of God. Because we belong to the Lord, our hurt is His business. The Biblical principle is to let our Heavenly Father handle these. May we never hurt others, even in our hearts, though we are hurt. We have a Heavenly Father who can heal every hurt and then avenge those who hurt His child. We need to learn to focus on loving the enemy, and praying that the enemy will turn from the sin of his ways and repent to turn back to the Lord. This is the way of the Lord and His will as revealed in the Bible.

Written by: Pastor Johnny Tan
Edited by: Timothy Lee
Image credit: vaXzine, Flickr.