Day 47: Love in Action... Overcoming Evil With Good.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 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. 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. 
~ Romans 12:9-21

Have you seen the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo? It's one that most people really enjoy. I've seen it a few times and considered it a pretty good movie, even recommended it, yet one thing has always been sort of a downer for me, something that I rooted for in the movie, but shouldn't have. In case you haven't seen the movie here is a short synopsis on it...

The Count of Monte Cristo' is a remake of the Alexander Dumas tale by the same name. Dantes, a sailor who is falsely accused of treason by his best friend Fernand, who wants Dantes' girlfriend Mercedes for himself. Dantes is imprisoned on the island prison of Chateau d'If for 13 years, where he plots revenge against those who betrayed him. With the help of another prisoner, he escapes the island and proceeds to transform himself into the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo as part of his plan to exact revenge.

The entire movie is about betrayal and exacting revenge. During the time that Dantes is in prison there are five words carved on his prison cell walls, "God Will Give Me Justice " He carves them in deeper during the 13 years he stayed in this horrible prison as if he were etching them into his brain, yet sadly he didn't understand them.

Dantes gets everything he could ever want when he becomes the Count of Monte Cristo, yet he is not pleased until he kills his friend that betrayed him.

We all have been betrayed by someone in our life that we trusted and loved. I was homeschooled during my High-school years, yet I went through some painful high-school drama from a girl that said some mean lies about my family and I. Too many people believed her lies and it greatly hurt. I wanted revenge against this pain. She had taken friends away from me and made me and my family into something we were not. This was a trying time, yet as crazy as this might sound, I am glad for it all. I learned to overcome evil, with good. This girl was a sad and miserable person... I didn't want to become like her. So I treated her with kindness. 

When we exact revenge we become like the ones who gave it... nothing good comes out it... only more sorrow.

Joyce Meyer says it in a nice way, "'But you don't know what was done to me," people say when trying to excuse their bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. Based on what the Bible says, it really does not matter how great the offense was. We serve a God Who is greater, and if we will handle the offense in the right way, He will bring us justice and recompense when we allow Him to do so.

In Isaiah 61: 7 the Lord promises us, "Instead of your {former} shame you shall have a twofold recompense." A recompense is a reward. It is a payback for past hurts. It is like worker's compensation. The Lord once told me, "Joyce, you work for Me, and as long as you do, if you get hurt on the job, I will pay you back."

Jesus taught us that we are to forgive those who hurt us, pray for those who spitefully use us, and bless those who curse us . That is hard. But there is something harder: being full of hatred, bitterness, and resentment."

 

 

God will give you justice. It might not be what you expect, but in the end it will be better than you could of imagined.