Do not seek revenge

¹⁸ “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.  Leviticus 19:18

The Lord is fully in control.  In this world we will have trouble but we have nothing to fear because the Lord has overcome the world.  We will be persecuted when we take a stand for Jesus Christ, but we can know in our hearts that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us and give us the words that we need in the moment when we need them.

As human beings it is natural for us to desire revenge when someone has wronged us.  But one of the greatest witness of the love of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is when we love our enemies instead of hating them.  What I have found in my life is that when we pray for those who wrong us the Lord replaces the feelings of anger with His love and His compassion.

We must remember that when Jesus hung upon the cross that one of the last things He said was Father forgive them for they know not what they do.  People who wrong us are either blinded to the lies of the enemy or they are Christians who are acting immaturely.  When we keep our eyes focused upon the Lord it is possible to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Let us always remember that we live in a world that is full of broken people.  People will make mistakes and will often times do things that will make us shake our heads.  But when our eyes are focused upon the Lord He will fill us with His love and He will lead and guide us by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This Christian life is not to be lived in our own strength or power, it is to be lived by walking by the leading of the Holy Spirit.