No Payback!

• Share a time when someone said something about you that wasn’t true.

• How does God want us to react when people tell lies about us?

Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.”
Proverbs 24:29

Imagine that your friend is jealous because you aced your Spanish test. So she tells everyone that you used your phone to look up the answers during the test. Of course, this isn’t true, and it was wrong of her to say this about you. And you could retaliate by spreading an equally damaging lie about her. But then you will have sinned too.

This verse from Proverbs tells us not to say, “I’ll do to her what she did to me!” As believers, we’re not supposed to be seeking payback. We’re not supposed to be retaliating at all when we are wronged. We are supposed to forgive and walk in love.

In extreme cases, the authorities will work out an offender’s consequences. In all cases, God will work out an offender’s consequences. In no case are we to do it. Believers are never supposed to pay back evil for evil.

PRAYER
Dear God, please help us to not seek payback when we are wronged. Please help us to give our hurt and anger to you instead of acting on it. Amen.