Revenge
LENT
Don't take it on yourself to repay a wrong. Trust the Lord and he will make it right. ~ Proverbs 20:22 (GNT)
Make sure that no one repays the wrong that has been done to them. Those who do that are themselves in the wrong. Rather "repay" the evil doers with good deeds. Make this your practice, both among those in the church and those outside the church. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:15 (ABP)
KEY IDEA:
Shower good on those who do you wrong.
PRAYER:
Lord God, thank you for being so gracious but this is so hard. How can you expect us to do good to those who do bad to us? I feel the need to payback the bad things so they learn to stop doing wrong -- and because it is such a satisfying feeling to topple bad people. But I know that justice needs to be left in your hands and so I am asking you to give me self-control and empathy toward my enemies. I really want to treat evil people in the same way that Jesus treated the bad people of his day. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
