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Is there someone in your life right now that has done you wrong? Someone who deserves to be punished and suffer for the wrong they’ve done you? Are you willing to let go of your right for revenge?
This is one area where lots of us find it very difficult to let go. If you’ve been truly hurt by someone—especially someone who has never apologized or tried to make it right or even acknowledged that they hurt you—no doubt your natural reaction is to get back at them. How can they get off scot free while you are left hurting, even devastated? It just eats at your sense of fair play—it’s just not fair. So, how in the world can you let go of this deep desire to see them punished for what they’ve done to you?
I’ve met people who have become so fixated on the hurt done to them, so determined that the other person suffer, that they have become obsessed with revenge. It’s understandable how a person could get to this place. Your mind dwells on the injustice, and the more you think about it, the more you cannot let go of the anger. Then that anger turns into bitterness and you inflict even more pain and hurt on yourself.
The Bible says that vengeance belongs to the Lord and he will repay. If you’re hanging on to a desire for revenge, this is one truth you need to learn and accept. God is the avenger; he knows who deserves punishment; he knows about wrongs that have never been set right. And unless a person repents and truly forsakes their ways, God is going to have the last word. Those wrongs will not always go unavenged.
So, if you can let go of your desire to get your pound of flesh; if you can take them off your hook and put them on God’s hook, you will free yourself from the terrible pain of that hurt. The more you refuse to let go, the more you increase the pain. And the more you suffer for it.
One of the best gifts you can ever give yourself is to let go of your right for revenge. Trust the God who sees and knows all, and who will someday settle every score—his way.