I was angry. Someone broke into our garage and stole tools and fishing equipment. I felt violated. I wanted the thief to pay for his crime. The sooner the better.
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” I thought. I will let you know shortly how I know it was a he. By the way, I feel the same vengeful anger when someone tries to scam me.
“Oh, that isn’t biblical,” you say. Could it be biblical for a day? No. God’s directive requires a supernatural, not a natural response—one we can’t fulfill without His grace.
“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. Instead, ‘If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.’ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good” (Romans 12:19–21 NLT).
When we want revenge, evil is conquering us. Our anger, not the Holy Spirit, is controlling us. We do foolish things when we’re angry. Some spend the rest of their lives in prison because of a moment’s revenge-seeking, anger-driven behavior. We must be patient and forbearing, withholding judgment, and letting God be God. Only He can settle accounts with justice and fairness because He knows everything.
About a month after the theft, a policeman showed up with much of my fishing equipment in the trunk of his car. He told me the story. It turns out that ten days or so after the theft, the thief took his own life. He had sold my stuff to someone who felt guilty about possessing it. After the death, the buyer contacted and returned the stolen goods to the police.
God is naturally forbearing. We aren’t. He holds back His judgment on those who rebel against Him. He doesn’t deliver the instant lightning bolts of punishment they deserve. He took all the accumulated punishment we deserve for our sins and poured it upon His Son on Calvary’s cross one Friday about two thousand years ago.
“For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past” (Romans 3:25 NLT).
We can misinterpret God’s forbearance and tolerance of sin as apathy. “When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong” (Ecclesiastes 8:11 NLT). That would be a grave mistake.
“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness” (Romans 2:4–8 NLT).
God is our model. Instead of seeking revenge on those who hurt us, we must be channels of God’s kindness with the intent that the offenders will turn from their sins. Some will. Some won’t. We are part of God’s EMT crew. Condemning people to eternal loss is way beyond our pay grade.
Withholding judgment means putting up with others' faults, irritating mannerisms, slights, selfishness, rudeness, thoughtlessness, and offenses against us without striking back at them. Scammers need Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Fellow believers who offend us need God’s word to renew their minds and His grace to make them more like Him. We could use a fifty-five-gallon drum of that grace daily ourselves.
God chose us, His children, to become like Jesus (Romans 8:29). We are to clothe ourselves with Jesus-like behavior and be distributors of the grace we continue to receive.
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:12–13 NLT). As God withheld judgment against us, we must do the same with others.
Since the fruit of the Spirit describes Jesus being Himself, when we are forbearing and withholding judgment, we demonstrate love, patience, gentleness, kindness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources
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