Articles
Coping with Life 27 — Revenge
Coping with Life 27 — Revenge
Mike Willis
Revenge escalates violence. Greater violence must be done to the one who assaulted the innocent individual to show the perpetrator “not to mess with me.” And so, the cycle of revenge begins.
Most of us are familiar with the West Virginia-Eastern Kentucky story of the Hatfield-McCoy feud along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River during the years of 1863-1891. On February 24, 1908 (p. 5), The New York Times reported that there were sixty men who had died as the result of a feud over a pig, a feud that had begun 48 years before.
Several decades ago, I preached what most would call a “revival meeting” at the Beech Creek Road church in Matewan, WV. I spent the week in the home of one of the descendants of “Devil Ance” Hatfield. Years before, the two families “buried the hatchet” ending the cycle of revenge that had lasted 28 years. I was blessed by the hospitality of their warm family.
The spirit of revenge kills! It kills one spiritually as well as physically. Both the Old and New Testaments forbid personal revenge:
“Do not say, ‘I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done’” (Prov. 24:29).
“Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you” (Prov. 20:22).
“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all” (Rom. 12:17).
“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1 Thess. 5:15).
Revenge unleashes ever increasing retaliations between two people. Verbal assaults lead to fisticuffs and eventually retaliations grow into violence that spills over to the friends and families of the two parties at “war.” One act of violence leads to another, much like what occurs in gang and drug wars in many larger cities.
The Apostle Paul taught that civil governments are in place to punish the wicked and forbade persons taking revenge. He wrote, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:19-21).
