revenge

“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”1

I get chills every time I remember that quote from the movie "Gladiator." Standing in the middle of a packed Coliseum, Maximus, the honorable general who was forced to become a gladiator, reveals his true identity to the emperor, his enemy.

If you don’t know what happens after that scene, well, don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil the ending for you.

But I will comment on Maximus wanting to take revenge on the emperor, who ordered the killing of his wife and son. In movies vengeance can be quite entertaining (at least for me). Fact is, it can also be quite satisfying—as well as a little dicey—in real life.

As a kid my parents got a notice from the city ordering us to cut our grass. Apparently it’s not supposed to be knee high. My brother and I quickly concluded that a neighbor must have sicced the authorities on us.

Believing we knew which one was the guilty party, I took revenge that evening. Knowing our neighbors were obsessed with their lawn, I knew just how to get back at them: Cut their garden hose into little pieces.

Can I be honest? It felt good, really, really good.

A day or two later, however, someone cut our garden hose into little pieces. Gee, I wonder who did that?

I learned a lesson that day about revenge: Be careful or the other person may take revenge against you. I decided to quit while I was behind.

Years later, after becoming a follower of Jesus, I learned yet another lesson about vengeance: We can’t participate in it. That is, no revenge for our enemies.

“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ’It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”2

What a drag. It’s the Lord’s job to avenge wrongs done to me.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. These verses follow the one above.

“On the contrary: ’If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”3

Can you imagine Maximus giving food and water to the emperor? Me neither. And I certainly don’t like the thought of playing nice with my old neighbors.

And yet, there it is. We either do things God’s way or our way. We either take revenge or leave it up to the Lord to avenge the wrongs done to us.

So what will it be with you? Has somebody really jobbed you recently? And if so, are you mulling over how to respond?

I encourage you to eliminate vengeance from your list of options. Instead, think of how you can bless them.

Hard? Oh yeah. Make you sick to your stomach at the thought? Me too.

Whatever you decide to do, know this: If you didn’t know about how God feels about taking revenge, now you do. In other words, now you’re accountable. And the Lord is watching.

Sorry about that.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

1  Maximus, the gladiator, revealing his true identity to Commodus, the Roman emperor, “Gladiator”

2  Romans 12:19

3  Romans 12:20-21