“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”- Romans 12:19,21
Mary DeMuth (The Wall Around Your Heart) continues her presentation of five earthly kingdoms we build in reaction to the past by discussing the fourth kingdom- The Vengeance Kingdom. The author notes that when we become preoccupied with what is fair according to our sense of justice, we may slip into a vengeance-based kingdom.
Mary emphasizes hat vengeance has nothing in common with true justice, where we entrust our hurts to our loving, faithful God:
“In true justice, we don’t run around trying to manage our reputations in the aftermath of someone’s untrue or hurtful words. Instead, we give everything over to the sovereign Lord, realizing that no one pulls the wool over the Almighty’s eyes.”
By building and reigning over our vengeance kingdom, we disobey God, believing that our judgment is better than His. When God takes His rightful place on the throne of our lives, great freedom becomes ours. Since God has everything in His sovereign grasp, we can truly and fully rest.
Today’s question (from Mary): What would it look like if you took vengeance on an enemy? What would that do to your heart? How does letting God have the vengeance free you today? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The Survivor Kingdom”