July 5, give God your revenge. 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, Romans 12, 19.

Why is this such a crucial promise in overcoming our bent toward bitterness and revenge?

The reason is that this promise answers one of the most powerful impulses behind anger,

an impulse that is not entirely wrong. In many cases, real wrongs have been done to us.

Therefore, it is not entirely wrong to feel that justice should be done. What's wrong

is to feel that we must make it happen and that we may feel bitter until it does. This would be a

deadly mistake. During my seminary days, Noel and I were in a small group for couples that began

to relate at a fairly deep personal level. One evening, we were discussing forgiveness and anger.

One of the young wives said that she could not and would not forgive her mother for something

she had done to her as a young girl. We talked about some of the biblical commands and warnings

concerning an unforgiving spirit, be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving,

one another as God in Christ forgive you, Ephesians 432. If you do not forgive others, neither will

your Father forgive your trespasses, Matthew 615, but she would not budge.

So I warned her that her very soul was in danger if she kept on with such an attitude of unforgiving

bitterness, but she was adamant that she would not forgive her mother.

The grace of God's judgment is promised to us here in Romans 12 as a means of helping us overcome

such a deadly spirit of revenge and bitterness. Paul's argument is that we can be sure that all

wrongs will be dealt with by God and that we can leave the matter in his hands,

because vengeance belongs to the Lord, to motivate us to lay down our vengeful desires.

He gives us a promise, I will repay," says the Lord.

The promise that frees us from an unforgiving, bitter, vengeful spirit is the promise that God will

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