“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.“ — Romans 12:19

Some Christians read this kind of verse and wish for God to send punishment on those who have hurt them. But that is not at all what the Bible asks us to expect. Rather, we should pray with love—yes, with love—for those who have hurt us. If we call ourselves Christians, if we claim the name of the Lord, then we must obey His Word, without skipping over the parts we don’t like.

For some people, it’s already a miracle they’ve read this far, because they don’t want to deal with the issue at all—but it must be dealt with, and you can do it, thanks to His strength within you!

Holding on to or nurturing conflict is not according to God’s heart. Let’s put the Word into practice today! Do not repay anyone evil for evil; have a different attitude than what was shown toward you! Resolving a problem does not mean accepting every sin or wrong that was done to you. But we can, for example, apologize to the other person for having hurt them, for having in some way been a stumbling block to them. That way, even if we still don’t agree with them, we have done our part.

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.“ — Matthew 5:46-48

If you belong to Christ, you have the Spirit of Christ living in you! So you can have a different attitude—and show it! You can do it only by humbling yourself before the Lord, by choosing to obey His Word.

What do you choose? Your love for God, or establishing your own justice? Is your anger, resentment, or hatred toward that person stronger than your love for God?

That’s for you to answer. I pray your answer is no! Jesus asks us to be perfect—we have the ability to obey. Let’s resemble our Father rather than the pagans who don’t know the love of God!

Do you want to put the Word into practice today? Maybe you’re in the bathroom right now, or your kitchen, living room, bedroom, or car—but you can decide today to settle this once and for all.

Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today! Take a piece of paper and write down the name(s) of the person(s) you have a conflict with. Pray to know how to seek peace, then take action! Write it down. Don’t just say, “I’ll do it later,” or “I won’t forget,” because everything will work against that decision, and it’s likely that tomorrow, it will feel less urgent to deal with the problem. You can go see the person, call them, or write to them, as the Lord leads you!

“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.“ — Romans 12:20

Some people forget the context of this verse and walk in hatred, saying, “Oh, God will avenge me, that’s what He said. He’ll send something bad to them, He’ll hurt them—they deserve it! I pray they get what’s coming to them!” But that’s not the mindset the Lord wants us to have. That’s not the heart in which this verse should be applied. No—we must walk in love.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.“ — Romans 12:21

This is what leads us to an attitude of humility and love. There is a promise here: by doing good, evil will be overcome. This doesn’t mean we’ll automatically find peace, but we will have done the right thing—and that’s where our victory lies: in our attitude, not in others’ reactions to it.

We can overcome evil, because God has never asked us to do anything in His Word that we are incapable of doing. Let’s pray for both the will and the ability, so that only His will may be done!

“Oh yes Lord, I will not give my offering hypocritically without having settled my conflicts. I choose to obey You and to trust You, knowing that You are always right. I love You. I choose to forgive—I forgive! I choose the attitude that leads to victory. I choose to please You and to love. I want to do Your will, so I will do what You ask of me: I will settle my conflicts, no matter the cost. I will humble myself and choose the path of love. Amen!”

I don’t know how you will do it, but I know God will help you! I’m proud of you! Feel free to share your testimony of victory with me, and remember that true victory lies in doing what God has asked of us…

This text is an excerpt from the book “365 Days at the Master’s Feet” written by several French-speaking authors, the main one being Jérémy Sourdril.

We invite you to read the next article: “LOOSE CONNECTION!”

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