A newspaper headline read: NO END TO CYCLE OF REVENGE IN MIDEAST. The article was about a 28-year-old man consumed with avenging his uncle’s death in the wake of suicide bombings and military retaliation. “When someone dear to you is killed,” he said, “you can’t sleep; you have to do something.”

But even after killing two men he considered enemies, he still had no sense of satisfaction. No one can ever win by trying to even the score.

I have a friend, a former CTC student, who today heads up a relief ministry in Israel that ministers to victims of terrorism. He is surrounded by bitterness, hatred, and unforgiveness. Revenge seems the natural response to such feelings.

Romans 12:19 speaks to this issue. Have you dealt with feelings of revenge? How did you overcome such urgings?

Tags: Middle East, revenge, unforgiveness