Saturday, July 14, 2018
Does Revenge Really Make You Feel Better?
There is a new TV series that has come out based off of the movie Big Hero 6. In the movie a boy, named Hiro, gets together a team to try to unmask a man who started a fire that killed Hiro's brother. In one scene, the man who killed Hiro's brother is unmasked. In a fit of rage, Hiro orders Baymax, a robot built to help people, to destroy the man who killed his brother. The man escapes, and Hiro is so upset. He wanted revenge on this man. Then he realizes that killing this man will not make him happy. Baymax was built to help people and Hiro wants to help others too. Killing someone would not be helpful.
In another story, there was a man who owned a small portion of land. Another man wanted to buy that small piece of land because he was going to build a hotel on the next lot. The man who owned the small piece of land refused. So the other man built his hotel anyhow.
The man who owned the small area of land was so upset that he decided to build a house on the small area of land to block the view of this hotel. The man tried to rent out the house to some tenants but very few people could fit in the house. It had the smallest appliances and only one person could be in the hall or go up the stairs at a time. The man who built the house ended up living in that home with his wife because he ran out of money. His attempt at getting revenge just ruined him.
Finally, in a story you probably know well, two brothers were making a sacrifice to God. The older brother, named Cain, gave some of his harvest. The younger brother, Abel, gave the first born of his flock. God accepted Abel's sacrifice, but not Cain's. Cain was so upset that he killed his brother Abel. It did not make Cain feel any better; in fact it made him feel worse! He had to leave his family and live on his own.
In all of these cases, revenge destroyed, or could've destroyed, these people. Revenge does us no good. God is the only one who can judge us. It is not our job to judge others. It is our job to forgive them.
Think about a person who may have wronged you. Did you forgive that person? If you didn't and you still harbor a grudge and want revenge, then you are the one in chains, not that person. You are the one who will be destroyed, not that person. We need to forgive those who wrong us, otherwise we will not be of use to God. We will not be following God's example and will not fulfill his plan for us.
Romans 12:19, Matthew 5:38-39, Mark 11:25
Image from here.
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