If Vengeance is Not the Answer, Then How Do I Get Over It?

Listening to a recent news broadcast of the large number of violent attacks and mass shootings throughout the country in just one week, I am more convinced than ever that people struggle with letting go of disappointment, gripes and offences. At the root of most of these horrific incidents of rage are people that hold grudges. Often these perpetrators feel hopeless, victimized and unable to cope with everyday life. Somehow their rational thinking process is irretrievably broken after what they consider the last straw in a series of offences. For whatever the reason, these people cannot get over what has deeply wounded them. Their decision to exact payback involves hurting as many people as they possibly can. It is true that hurt people can and do hurt other people.

The desire for vengeance and making innocent people pay for the actions of another is not a new human phenomenon. In biblical times as a result of an infamous grudge, King Saul pursued David and had eighty-five priests killed after one priest helped him. Then Saul went to the priests' town and killed their families-men and women, children and babies-and all the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats leaving only one survivor. (1 Samuel 22:18 &19). Saul's actions were maniacal and selfish. He never considered anyone else's rights. Nor did he consider the consequences of his actions for the people he left behind.

Today, if you find yourself wounded by the cruelty of others, you must decide that the madness and hurting cycle stops now. Don't let someone else's actions derail your destiny. The pain inflicted upon you can heal in time by taking yourself through the following steps.