Revenge

 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.
Proverbs 25:21-22 ESV

One might assume that Proverbs, like most religion, is all about karma- reaping what you sow- getting what you deserve. But this verse is about the scandal of grace- God’s undeserved love to sinners. In fact, it’s about His grace empowering us to show grace even to our enemies.

Your gut reaction with an enemy might be to stick a knife in their guts. It sounds really harsh, but imagine they’ve abused your family or destroyed relationships you’ve had. But the Bible says not to seek revenge.

“Where’s the justice in that?” you may wonder. But “‘vengeance is mine’ says the Lord, ‘I will repay'”. It’s not our job to go all vigilante with whatever vendettas we may have. An eye for an eye would leave the world blind, but God is just, and will mete out correct
punishments.

We’re given a reason to give our enemies food and drink in the next verse- because we’ll heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will repay us. Grace and forgiveness enable us to seek not just deserts but the undeserved kindness of God. We don’t show mercy to our enemies to earn God’s mercy, but because He’s already been merciful to us.

Dear Father God, thank You so much for Your mercy and grace to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, who empowers us to love our enemies, to the praise of Your name, amen”