Dear Michael:

It is a grave sin to seek vengeance or revenge on anyone. Jesus tells us that if we have hatred in our heart we are, in essence, committing murder against that person.

We certainly cannot solicit others to do our vengeance for us. We are not the mafia and God is not our "hitman".

Rather, we are to forgive those who persecute us or hurt us. We need to pray prayers of forgiveness and bless those who have hurt us. This is what Jesus commands us to do.

We need to forgive for our own good. As long as we hold a grudge, bitterness, and resentment in our heart we hurt only ourselves. We need to let go of all that and get on with our lives.

Let God take care of the person who hurt us. God exercises perfect love and perfect justice. No one is off the hook. Those who hurt others will be held accountable -- but not by us. Let God take care of it.

This is not to say that we cannot file charges against someone who has committed a crime against us -- we should do that. But, even that must not be done with revenge in mind and heart. We still need to forgive the person even while we are participating with the State to prosecute the person for the crime. Should the person "get off" and escape the due justice he deserves in this world from committing a crime, he cannot escape God's justice. Let God deal with it and get on with our lives.

In our Deliverance Counseling we have a session on Forgiveness. Perhaps reading through that packet will help you to come to forgiveness:

Dealing with Bitterness and Unforgiveness (PDF file)

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary