In movies, “Revenge is sweet” can feel like an emotionally satisfying plotline. In real life, not so much, as summed up in the time-honored maxim, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” Though the outcome isn’t usually that extreme, individuals or communities all too often get trapped in cycles of retribution. 

Taking revenge isn’t the route to freedom from hurt or powerlessness but one more step away from finding the freedom that’s ours as God’s spiritual offspring. It’s actually rising above the temptation for vengeance that brings peace to mental storms and prevents slights from lingering and hurts from escalating, as an incident in my college days showed me. As I was about to voice an incensed personal put-down as payback for a friend’s recent unfriendliness, something different—and sweeter—came to me to say. The words were so sincere and embracing that the escalating stand-off gave way to immediate and permanent renewal of the friendship. 

This benchmark moment was a taste of Christ—God’s illuminating message to human consciousness of our true nature—being ever-present to override what we think we want when we feel we’ve been wronged. Even if not acted upon, a desire to strike back at people can reverberate relentlessly in our hearts. But such a desire isn’t true to who we are in our heart of hearts. Jesus taught this to his disciples when they wanted God to rain down retribution on villagers who had refused them hospitality. He told his disciples: “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:55, 56, New King James Version).