Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
—Romans 12:17
One of the hardest things you will ever do is forgive someone who has intentionally hurt you.
The human impulse is to retaliate, even the score, get revenge.
But revenge is too hot for humans to handle. Drop it before you get burned.
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil . . . Do not take revenge” (Rom 12:17, 19).
“If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mt 6:15). This verse prompted devotional lyricist George Herbert to say, “He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”
And theologian Lewis Smedes wrote: “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
The strongest person is not the one
who fights, but the one who forgives.