“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.” – Romans 12:17
In any situation, whether good or evil, you can only control the behavior of, and be responsible for, one person – yourself. If you’re a follower of Jesus, a Christian, a believer, then you’re responsible for acting like Jesus at every moment. That may be hardest when you’re on the receiving end of someone else’s sinful behavior. How should you respond in Christ?
In our humanity, we’re outraged and naturally want to “get them back”. We envision ways to punish or repay evil. We imagine exacting justice on them ourselves. We long for vengeance. These instincts are unsuited to Christians. Christ requires us to reject these ideas completely. We must not let our minds dwell on ways to get revenge. We can’t spend our days and nights stewing on how to make them pay. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t pursue appropriate legal remedies (after all, that’s why God blesses us with governments). However, we must not lash out on our own, repaying evil for evil.
Instead, we must take on the mind of Christ our Lord. When He was confronted by our hatred of God and rebellion against Him, Jesus didn’t “pay us back”. Instead He entered our world and sacrificed Himself to redeem us from our sin (Romans 5:8). Rather than repay our vast evil with greater evil, Jesus responded with love, grace, mercy, and His own suffering and death.
As Christians, we’re required to live by this verse. It isn’t optional. We don’t get to exact revenge on others or make them suffer because they made us suffer. We’re called to empty our minds of evil thoughts and fill them with thoughts of how we can glorify God in the situation and act in a way that all will see and admire, praising God. If you’ve been wronged, mistreated, and sinned against, Christ absolutely understands all that. He grieves with you but doesn’t want you to poison your mind with dark thoughts of evil. Fill your mind with the light of Christ.