Revenge & Retaliation

These two words must be “cousins”. Revenge & Retaliation are very similar because they both involve striking back and hurting the person or persons who have hurt me. I think it is natural to want to hurt someone back who has hurt me. I believe that revenge and retaliation can end up backfiring on me. As a Christ-follower, I can get deeply hurt again by inflicting revenge or by retaliating. Check this out…

 1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, ‘Get me this girl as my wife.’

5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in[a] Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter – a thing that should not be done. (Genesis 34:1-7 NIV)

The incident that happened with Jacob’s daughter is absolutely despicable. I really do understand the anger that Jacob and his sons were experiencing. They acted deceitfully because this guy Shechem was the son of the most powerful man in the area. I’m pretty confident that when they said that they would allow Dinah to be his wife IF all the males were circumcised, they were clearly planning what would happen next. They waited until after 3 days after the males were circumcised and in lots of pain before attacking the city and killing all the males.

I know what it feels like to want revenge on someone who has wounded me or hurt me, but I believe that revenge and retaliation are born from bitterness that comes from a dark part of me. I want the Lord’s light to expose the darkness of my soul. I still remember hearing Billy Graham’s definition of Forgiveness many years ago. He said: “Forgiveness is giving up my right to retaliate”. I’ve learned in personal relationship that I can express my feelings from being hurt, but revenge and retaliation are more damaging to me than the person I’m trying to strike back at. It is certainly easier to say than do. It takes incredible restraint, but I believe the Holy Spirit is up to the task. I believe there are other ways to hold a person accountable beside enacting revenge or retaliation upon them.

Pressing On!

Dwayne