By 1 Thessalonians 5:15
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
Vengeance-Revenge has no place in the life of the Christian. We are called in Romans 12 to never avenge ourselves, but to save room for the wrath of God. It seems somewhat palatable to think that we are not to ever take revenge on a fellow Christian; but the text goes further to include even the wickedest of unbelievers.
If that was not hard enough; the text plunges into a deeper level by calling us not only to refrain from revenge, but to rather do good to this individual who paid me with evil. Does this seem impossible?
We are called to this kind of love because it is how God loves us. He has refrained from taking revenge upon us for all of our sin against him. He has instead done good for us. We are called to merely go and do likewise. Yet we will never be able to go and do likewise without being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our helper!
If we have an empty checkbook; we won’t be able to repay someone we owe. If we have a heart empty of evil; we won’t be able to repay that evil back to them. Jesus alone cleans our heart.
Blessings!
Leading Family Devotions 