Justice vs Revenge

It is mine to avenge…..  Deuteronomy 32:35

The Lord will vindicate his people… Deuteronomy 32:36

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” Romans 12:19

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

These four sentences are more powerful than you think. They confront the very fine line between Revenge and Justice. As humans we tend to seek “Justice” by means of “Revenge”. When we are hurt we seek to hurt the one who hurt us by whatever means we can. We tell ourselves we are doing it for Justice but are we really or are we really just seeking Revenge? Do we really know the true meaning of Justice?

In all of the four statements from God he states “It is mine to avenge”. To avenge means to punish a wrongdoing with the intent of seeing Justice done. He also says “Do not overcome evil by evil, but overcome evil with good”; in other words two wrongs do not make it right. Justice is based on honor, fairness, virtue, and most of all restoring balance.

Revenge is the easy road, because it is personal and all about getting even with the one who hurt you. Justice is a much harder path and requires being open to impersonal, impartial, and moral correction that will benefit not only you and society but the individual as well. This is not easy and the line between Revenge and Justice is very thin and easy to cross over. Sometimes we cross that line without even thinking about it. Our vision becomes blurred when we are hurt and angry, that’s just human nature. But if you really think about it the world would be a much better place if everyone sought Justice instead of Revenge.

Look at all the wars from the past and those in the present, they are people vs people, country vs country, religion vs religion resulting in War and destruction vs Peace and Harmony all because we all seek Revenge instead of Justice… It’s time to put our Revenge and hate aside and start practicing Justice and love in order to bring Peace to the World. Like I said this is not the easy path, change is never easy or simple. But it all starts with each and every one of us….Think about this and we will explore it more later……

Prayer:

God, I pray for a world where different races and cultures can live in Harmony, Peace, and Mutual Respect for one another. I pray for a world where Justice is guided and by love and peace. Give us the courage, inspiration, and guidance to restore our World one person at a time. In the name of your son Jesus, I pray your will be done. Amen

Author: Bernice Barnes