DCLM Higher Everyday 8 January 2024 — Avoiding Tit For Tat
DCLM Higher Everyday 8 January 2024 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Avoiding Tit For Tat
Topic: Avoiding Tit For Tat
Text: Romans 12:17-21
17Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Key Verse: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
Message
Revenge is seeking to hurt someone for hurting you. Scientists have proved that revenge may give an immediate emotional satisfaction, but it continues to harm the revenger in the long run. Francis Bacon says, “A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal.” Nursing an offence keeps pressure continually building up in your brain, releasing doses of poisonous chemicals into your bloodstream. So, revenge hurts the revenger more than his or her target.
Also Read: DCLM Higher Everyday 7 January 2024 – Power For Fruitful Service
Exacting revenge is the natural human response to offences and that is exactly where being born again by grace makes a difference. When your adversaries take the low road, grace enables you to take the high. Just like Christ – when His adversaries came to arrest Him and Peter cut off one man’s ear, Christ had enough compassion to heal the man’s ear. And on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them.” The best way to demonstrate Christ in you is to be like Him. Becoming like Christ, however, is not by imitation but by transformation of life through repentance and faith in Him.
Quote: Revenge hurts the revenger more
Challenge: Choose to demonstrate Christ-like forgiveness today.
Prayer for today: O God, flush the tendency to revenge from my heart, in Jesus’ name.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
