July 30

 "His Voice Today"

July 30

🔸️ We must be freed from the poisonous attitude of revenging! 🔸️

The deadly nature of revenge prevails in our nerves like a poisonous spring. We all want to get revenge on someone who has harmed us in some way. According to Old Testament standards, if one killed another, the killer was to be killed. The standard of the Old Testament was that if one's tooth is broken in a fight, the other's tooth must be broken as well.

Now in the New Testament, we do not need to live by this standard of the Old Testament. Lord Jesus, who established the Divine higher standard of living, taught us not to retaliate in this way, but to "forgive." If someone plucked one eye of mine, now I don’t need to take his eye off in return. Jesus advised the one who slapped his right cheek not to resist the evil, but to give back the other cheek.

The meaning of all these is not telling "It's okay if someone steals your belongings, let them steal and leave." But Jesus insisted that the purpose of revenge should not be in our personal lives. Jesus stressed that we should stay away from the hostility caused by the desire for materialism and avoid fighting for our own rights. On the contrary, we must surrender the judgement for our rights to God alone!

We read in Romans 12:19 "Beloved, it is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Thus, we should not harm anyone who harmed us, instead we must surrender it, for God's judgement.

"Do not rejoice when your enemy falls; do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles" (Prov. 24:17). Thus the purpose of revenge is to rejoice when the enemy falls. On the contrary, we must have the attitude of love.

Prayer:

Dear Father! Please have mercy upon us not to have vengeful attitude towards anyone who harms us, but to show our love to them. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Author:

 Brother Zac Poonen

Translated version of the Tamil "Family Meditation Book".

From:-

https://t.me/hisvoicetoday