Revenge

So I was driving along Highway 7 today and came to a red light. My brother was sitting next to me and my grandmother was in the back. The light turned green but I didn't notice for 2 seconds. However, in those two seconds the gentleman in the car behind me found it necessary to not only honk furiously at me but also give me an inappropriate hand gesture. He quickly changed lanes and then drove off. I went after him. Caught him just as he was turning and gave him a furious honk in return. I saw his look of anger and I was satisfied.

So I found myself asking, "Why is this so sweet?" In fact, the more I thought about it, the worse I felt. Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel bad for the gentleman at all. In fact, I would be lying if I told you that I feel any remorse at all for him even now. But something inside of me was clashing. On one hand, it felt great that I pissed him off. On the other, I felt like such a pitiful human being. Why was I holding onto such a small grudge? What if God did that with us? What if He needed revenge for every sin we committed? I quickly realized that the source of this internal clash was my spirit and my flesh. I wanted one thing but knew that my desire was rooted from evil. Matthew 6:15 states, "But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

The sweetest form of revenge is forgiveness. Return the act of sin with an act of love. Christians are known for what we are against more than what we stand for. And we stand for the love of God so let us show it. I guess that starts with me. Let's start today.