Be careful not to let any poisonous root of bitterness to grow up—causing you trouble and corrupting many others (Heb.12:15). “Resentment kills a fool” (Job 5:2). Beloved, never take revenge, for God tells us in the Scriptures, “Vengeance belongs to me, not you… In my time and way, I will pay them back. I will put things right.” (Paraphrase of Rom.12:19).
Heavenly Father, instead of fearfully musing, “lions and tigers and bears, oh my,” our concern should be “bitterness and resentment and vengeance, oh my.” For few feelings are as raw, dangerous, and destructive. And yet we live in a world in which we experience betrayals, unjust suffering, and the open wound of not being seen and forgotten. What are we to do, Abba? Have mercy on us, Lord, and grant us wisdom, strength and grace. Bring the light of the Gospel into the darkness of our night.
Through the work of your Spirit, the intercession of Jesus, the power of the Gospel, and the gift of wise friends, help us Abba. Keep our healthy anger from morphing into unrighteous revenge. Don’t let our throbbing wounds become a band of vigilante marauders—not just bent on getting even, but upping the ante—repaying harm for harm, evil for evil, and death for death. That’s what the devil wants, that’s SO what he wants.
Don’t let our vulnerable hearts become gardens in which roots of resentment and bushes of bitterness thrive. Intervene and protect us from medicating our pain foolishly. Make the Gospel more defining than our pain, and your glory more a concern than our relief. Abba, write stories of redemption and restoration with the ink of your grace and the tears of our stories. So Very Amen.