But hate is too great a burden to bear. It's healthier to let it go. Instead I will move on with my life after the dust settles by living my life as I always have with the honor and integrity I was raised with.
We have all been wronged in many ways from small issues to life changing issues and it's natural to want justice but all too often we go further. We go to vengeance and demand infinite punishment for a relatively limited sin. It goes against our instincts to let our aggressors off the hook.
The thing is that by letting them go we also let ourselves move on rather than dwell on it and allow our hate to fester within us and ultimately destroy us.
Revenge is amongst other things, a control tactic. It's how we try to gain control over a situation we had no control over anyway. We only have control over ourselves, we only ever have.
Revenge is like breaking something in retaliation for something of yours being broken, in the end you only have broken stuff. You are no richer.
It also reminds me of war. If neither side surrenders then all that happens is one man becomes the ruler of a graveyard. Because that's all that's left after a long war.
My point is that after the chaos, after the bloodshed, after revenge has been had all that has been created is destruction and we have to live with the consequences of our actions spawned by our lust for revenge.
And that is too great a burden to bear for any of us.
Love is the better option. It is the healthiest option though it is often the most difficult option there ever is.
The dividens of love are always worthwhile. Christ could have demanded and received His justice for being beaten and crucified but instead He prayed to God for their forgiveness.
We may not always succeed in winning the affections of others. But we can avoid the losses created by hate and vengeance.
Forgiveness isn't always about freeing our aggressors, it's also about freeing ourselves from the burdens of hate. The only way we can ever be free is to free ourselves. No one else can do it for us.
