Romans 12:17-21 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ¹⁸Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹Dear 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.

²⁰Instead, “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.”

²¹Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

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I don’t know how many times I have heard people talk about getting revenge.  “I am going to get them back!”  And I’m not talking about when you’re playing around or having water balloon fights or things like that.  I mean when people have taken serious offence to something, and they will not rest until they’ve had vengeance.  Why do people feel so passionate about causing someone else pain?  Do they really think that will end the cycle?  Do they really think the other person will passively accept retaliation without escalating the conflict?  And when I’ve asked, “Well why don’t you just forgive them?” it’s like asking them to cut off their own arm.  “FORGIVE THEM?!  I can’t forgive them!  Do you realize what they did to me?  I’ll forgive them after I get them back.”  So they wind up, whether they exact vengeance o r not, carrying around this baggage of anger and bitterness and animosity, and completely miss the opportunity for healing in any direction.

I think that’s why Jesus said if you don’t forgive other people when they hurt you, then he won’t forgive you for hurting him.  Think about the wicked choices people make that shatter their relationship with God.  You can probably list quite a few sins.  Think about what Jesus sacrificed his life for.  Without his forgiveness, you will never restore that relationship.  Basically Jesus said, “If you refuse to forgive, you will go to Hell.”  After all the pain you’ve caused your own Creator, who has a love for you the size of infinity and therefore can feel the pain of your selfish hatred more than you can imagine, you can’t be his friend if you can’t let a little of your own earthly pain slide.  It’s completely hypocritical to expect forgiveness if you’re not willing to give it.

So besides the fact that you risk your soul by not forgiving, you miss the chance for reconciliation with others.  You can build relationships through forgiveness.  You can introduce others to the grace of God because they got a taste of his forgiveness through your grace.  God likes a BIG family.  And if you can’t see fit to add more people to it by building relationships instead of denying them through unforgiveness, then you’ve got no place in the Kingdom of God.

How’s that make you feel?

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