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Dealing with Revenge
Ezekiel 25:15
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;"
They often say that revenge is sweet. However, revenge never gives the satisfaction that one thinks it would give. It is amazing how a person can dwell a long time on getting revenge, but when the revenge has been administered there is an empty feeling of dissatisfaction. The reason is because revenge is a selfish action that a person wants to administer to another because of what they did to them. There are many serving prison sentences who got revenge, but they will pay for it the rest of their lives with no satisfaction to show for it.
The verse above deals with the subject of revenge. God told the Philistines that He was going to judge them because they dealt revenge to Israel. God saw that the Philistines acted out of revenge, and not out of obedience to Him. Therefore, their vengeful actions would cause them to suffer the judgment of God.
Dealing with revenge is an important matter for every Christian. God forbids us from getting revenge. Proverbs 24:29 says, "Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work." Notice that God said that those who practice revenge will see His judgment on their lives. Furthermore, Leviticus 19:18 says, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord." Revenge is not the attitude that a Christian is to have, but a Christian is to love people instead of trying to get even with them for what they did.
Revenge is one action that only God should administer. Romans 12:19 says, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." When we try to get revenge with people, we are taking God's place. The reason God cannot trust us with revenge is because He knows that we cannot get revenge with the right heart. That was one of the problems with the Philistines in the verse above. They administered revenge out of a heart of spite. Their purpose for revenge was not to help, but to hurt.
So, what is the purpose of revenge? Ezekiel 25:17 says that the purpose of revenge is to get people to see that God is the LORD. That's why God can't trust us with revenge, because we don't want revenge so that people will look up to God, but we want revenge to get even with someone. The whole reason that God is the only One Who can administer revenge is because He is the only One Who will do it with the right heart and purpose.
You may wonder how to handle your desire to get revenge. Romans 12:19 says that the way to handle revenge is to "...give place unto wrath:..." Whenever you want to get even with someone, learn to give that person space so that your wrath has a chance to cool down. Most people will not want to get revenge if they will give themselves time to cool down. During the time when you want revenge, pray and ask God to help change your attitude. As hard as it may be, pray and ask God to help you to love the person with whom you want revenge. God can help you to love them, and once His love is placed in your heart, then you will find that the desire for revenge will no longer exist. Don't let your desire for revenge win, but let the love of God win. You will find more satisfaction when God's love wins than you ever will through revenge.