Freeing for Us

Southeast Christian Church

Jul 1, 2022

Sometimes, it feels like forgiving someone for the wrong they committed against you is letting them off the hook. If you don’t take revenge, then we think the other person will think what they did wasn’t that bad. However, 1 Peter 3:9 tells us that we “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” Trying to win every argument and avenge every wrongdoing is not only unbiblical, but it is exhausting and normally does not lead to the satisfaction that we think we are going to find.

God is the perfect judge of all people, and we are called to trust in his judgement, not our own. He is a far better judge than we could hope to be, and knows all sides and aspects of a person’s story. Hebrews 4:13 states, “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” But what we find when we hand over this role of judge to God is that it is incredibly freeing. We don’t feel like we need to settle scores, come up with a way to get even, or worry if the other person got what they deserve. This allows us to be more free, joyful, and focus on what God has in store for us.

DISCUSSION/REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Reflect on a time when you decided to let something go instead of seeking to settle the score with someone. What did you experience through this response?

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Jane Whobrey July 1, 2022 1:31 PM

Love this!
C Renee Webber July 1, 2022 2:33 PM

Sometimes it's hard to 'let go' of an argument. I recently just gave up during an argument and have to admit feeling frustrated with that at first, but then I was like 'so what' and was actually more at peace with not worrying about the conflict anymore. My mom used to say 'choose your battles'... she was right!

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