Paybacks
Theme of the Week: Release from Resentment
Sunday, October 26, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: And don't say, "Now I can pay them back for all their meanness to me! I'll get even!" Proverbs 24:29). Bonus Reading: Romans 12:17-21
A man was bitten by a rabid dog, the story goes, and rushed to a hospital. Tests confirmed that he'd contracted rabies, which, back then, had no cure. The doctor informed his patient of his terminal condition. "We'll do all we can to make you comfortable," he advised, "but I suggest that you quickly get your affairs in order."
In shock at first, after a few minutes the dying man asked for a pen and paper. He then began to write energetically. When the doctor checked back on his patient, he said, "I'm glad to see you're working on your will."
"This ain't no will," the man answered. "It's a list of all the people I'm going to bite before I die!"
Most of us carry such a mental list. Deep down you want to see a family member who's wronged you, a business associate who's cheated you, or a friend who's betrayed you suffer for the pain they've caused you. This desire for vengeance can erupt in violent actions; more often it works like a cancer, slowly destroying all it touches.
—Robert Jeffress in When Forgiveness Doesn't Make Sense
Adapted from When Forgiveness Doesn't Make Sense (WaterBrook, 2000) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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I'm tired, Lord, of being governed by grievances. Please show me how to break loose from vindictiveness.
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