The Rebuild: Matthew 5-7Näide

What is the burning issue at the heart of our desire to avenge ourselves? We likely want to put it down to a desire for justice. We are conditioned by the world around us to expect that we will be vindicated and proved right and, in that, we will experience justice.

However, the teaching of Jesus across all of scripture reveals a more insidious truth about the state of our heart. What is the burning issue at the heart of our desire to avenge ourselves? A lack of trust that God is in charge, that He sees all things, and that He will avenge the wrong of this world.

That should be a heart-wrenching revelation. Whenever we pursue our own vengeance, try to take matters into our own hands, or when we turn our hearts and eyes away from our “enemies” we are saying to God that we don’t think He can do a good job at being God!

What would it look like for us to put our whole trust in God when it comes to the justice we feel we deserve? Jesus was the one who took the punishment that we deserve for our sins upon Himself. If anyone has a right to pursue justice, it’s Jesus. But, thanks be to God, God’s righteous wrath has been exhausted on Christ and we have been freed to live with open hands, open hearts, and an abiding trust in God our Father.

Today, ponder this: What might God be calling to you today to trust Him with open hands? In what areas of your life are you seeking justice and the ‘right’ ending? As you pray today, you may want to do so with your hands facing up, in a posture of dependence and openness to God’s will.