Sunday, May 6, 2012

Getting Revenge

In Romans 12:19 (NLT), Paul says, “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.” Have you ever wondered why we are given this admonition?  Could it be that revenge never works. Take for example the Polish dentist that recently decided to get back at her ex-boyfriend. She is facing three years in prison and is being investigated for medical malpractice after she removed all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth during dental surgery just days after their breakup. "I tried to be professional and detach myself from my emotions," Anna Mackowiak, 34, told the Austrian Times. "But when I saw him lying there I just …decided to take all his teeth out." Marek Olszewski, 45, reportedly showed up at Mackowiak's dental office complaining of toothache just days after he broke up with her. She then allegedly gave him a "heavy dose" of anesthetic, locked the door and began removing all of his teeth one at a time. When he woke up he said he felt funny and was told he was okay but needed to see a specialist. Quite a story isn’t it? There are three reasons why we should not take matters into our own hands:  First, it never corrects the problem; second it never provides lasting happiness; last of all the consequences outweigh the benefits.  It is for certain that we will all face circumstances in life that will demand payback.  Although this is a given, the issue in question is, “who will we allow to take action?”  I encourage you to step back and let God work. He knows exactly how and when to get revenge so that it benefits the offended as well as the offender.  

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