🕊️ PRAY HERE Devotion 🕊️ Eye for an Eye — Revenge Does Not Go Unpunished

(When we just have to get our lick back and cannot see the wrong in our revenge; we are behaving like children.)

Scripture:

Job 4:8 NIV

“As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.”

Hosea 8:7 NIV

“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.”

Devotion :

Imagine a child hitting another child, and that child returns the same thing by hitting the child back.

What happens?

THEY BOTH END UP IN TIME-OUT.

😂🤦🏽‍♀️

The second child immediately starts pleading his case:

“BUT HE HIT ME FIRST!”

And the parent says:

“I understand that. But you still weren’t supposed to hit him back.”

👀

The child who only hit back because he was hit first still gets into trouble.

Why?

Because somebody else’s wrong did not make his wrong right.

He did not get to bypass the consequences of his actions just because his actions were a response to something somebody did to him first.

And somehow, as adults, we forget this very simple lesson.

“BUT THEY DID IT TO ME FIRST!”

🥺

They lied on me.

They hurt me.

They embarrassed me.

They betrayed me.

They disrespected me.

They caused trouble for me.

So now…

“I’m going to give them exactly what they gave me.”

But here’s what we forget:

WE CANNOT REPAY EVIL FOR EVIL AND SKIP THE CONSEQUENCES BECAUSE WE FELT JUSTIFIED IN PAYING SOMEBODY BACK.

Whewww! 😮‍💨🙏🏽

Revenge may feel justified.

It may even feel good for a moment.

But your feelings do not exempt your actions from consequences.

Let’s look at today’s Scriptures.

Job 4:8 says:

“Those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.”

Now, we need to understand the context here.

These words were spoken by Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends. Eliphaz was trying to explain Job’s suffering, and he wrongly assumed that Job must have done something evil to deserve what was happening to him.

He was wrong about Job.

So we should not use this verse to teach that every person experiencing trouble is simply reaping punishment for something they did.

That’s not what Job’s story teaches.

But the principle Eliphaz references, that our actions can produce consequences, is something Scripture teaches elsewhere very clearly.

Galatians 6:7 says:

“A man reaps what he sows.”

So here’s where we need to pay attention.

DON’T SOW SOMETHING EVIL JUST BECAUSE SOMEBODY ELSE SOWED EVIL TOWARD YOU.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

If somebody lies on you…

and you decide to lie on them…

Now YOU’RE SOWING TOO.

If somebody embarrasses you publicly…

and you decide:

“I’m about to tell everybody ALL their business!”

Now YOU’RE SOWING TOO.

If somebody sends you a hateful message…

and you spend the next hour writing the most hurtful response you can think of…

Now YOU’RE SOWING TOO.

And you don’t get to say:

“But God, look what they did first!”

God saw what they did.

AND GOD SAW WHAT YOU DID TOO.

👀🙏🏽

This is why revenge is dangerous.

You can start out as the person who was wronged…

and become somebody doing wrong yourself.

DON’T BECOME LIKE THE PERSON WHO HURT YOU.

WHEWWW! 🙌🏽

Keep your heart good.

Keep your actions righteous.

Let God deal with what they did.

You make sure YOU don’t plant something you’ll regret harvesting later.

And Hosea 8:7 makes this principle even stronger:

“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”

My, my, my! 😮‍💨

THEY SOWED WIND…BUT REAPED A WHIRLWIND.

Notice that the harvest is pictured as greater than the seed.

That’s how sowing and reaping works.

You plant one seed…

and that seed can produce something much larger.

So imagine what happens with revenge.

One angry text becomes screenshots sent everywhere.

One lie requires three more lies.

One act of retaliation starts a feud.

One humiliating post leads to another.

One angry confrontation becomes an arrest.

One moment of revenge destroys a relationship that took twenty years to build.

YOU SOWED THE WIND…NOW YOU’RE DEALING WITH A WHIRLWIND.

🥺

And in Hosea’s context, Israel had repeatedly turned away from God, trusted the wrong things, and continued in disobedience. Hosea was warning them that what they were planting would produce a devastating harvest.

The principle is sobering:

SIN CAN PRODUCE CONSEQUENCES MUCH BIGGER THAN THE MOMENT THAT STARTED IT.

That’s why revenge isn’t worth it.

You may only intend to “teach them a lesson.”

But you don’t control how far your actions travel after you release them.

You don’t control how another person responds.

You don’t control who gets pulled into it.

You don’t control what relationships are damaged.

You don’t control whether authorities become involved.

You don’t control whether something said in anger can ever be taken back.

YOU DON’T ALWAYS GET TO CHOOSE THE SIZE OF THE HARVEST.

Whewww! 😮‍💨🙏🏽

That’s why God tells us not to repay evil for evil.

Romans 12:17 says:

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil.”

And a few verses later:

“Do not take revenge… ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” — Romans 12:19 NIV

There’s your answer.

LET GOD HANDLE THEM.

Because when you try to become judge, jury, and executioner yourself…

you can create another problem that YOU now have to answer for.

And revenge doesn’t always look dramatic.

Sometimes it’s subtle.

Your spouse hurts your feelings, so you deliberately become cold and distant to punish them.

Your friend doesn’t invite you somewhere, so when you have an event:

“Well, she DEFINITELY isn’t getting invited.”

😂👀

Somebody says something negative about you, so you start telling people everything you know about them.

A family member offended you ten years ago, and every holiday you still throw little jabs across the table.

“I’m just joking!”

No you’re not. 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

You’re still trying to make them PAY.

DROP THE SCORECARD.

You don’t have to return everything somebody gives you.

They give you hate?

You don’t have to return hate.

They give you disrespect?

You don’t have to become disrespectful.

They lie?

YOU KEEP TELLING THE TRUTH.

They become ugly?

YOU KEEP YOUR HEART CLEAN.

They try to pull you down to their level?

DON’T GO.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Because at the end of the day, you’re responsible before God for YOUR ACTIONS.

Not theirs.

You don’t want somebody else’s wrongdoing to cause YOU to start sowing seeds that produce trouble in your own life.

TWO WRONGS STILL DON’T MAKE A RIGHT.

And revenge doesn’t become righteousness simply because you believe somebody deserves it.

Keep your heart good.

Keep your hands clean.

Keep your actions righteous.

Pray before you respond.

Walk away when necessary.

Set healthy boundaries when necessary.

Tell the truth when necessary.

Address wrongdoing appropriately when necessary.

BUT DON’T BECOME EVIL TRYING TO PAY BACK EVIL.

🙏🏽

They will answer for what they sow.

AND SO WILL YOU.

So sow something you won’t be afraid to harvest.

💙

Reflect & Respond

Think about someone who has hurt, betrayed, lied on, embarrassed, or mistreated you.

Now don’t examine THEM.

Examine YOU.

Have I been trying to make this person pay for what they did to me?

Have I justified my behavior by saying, “They did it first”?

Am I sowing something today that I really don’t want to reap tomorrow?

And here’s the heart check:

“AM I BECOMING LIKE THE PERSON WHO HURT ME?”

🥺

If the answer reveals something you don’t like, repent and change direction.

You don’t have to stoop to anybody’s level.

LET GOD HANDLE THEM. YOU KEEP YOUR HEART RIGHT.

Prayer :

Father God, help me not to stoop to the level of people who hurt me. When I’m angry, offended, or tempted to get even, remind me that I am responsible for my own actions. Keep my heart clean and my actions righteous. Help me sow what I will be glad to reap, trust You with what others have done, and always choose what is right.

In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen. 🙏🏽💙

💙

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