The High Cost of Getting Even
 

A New Day eDevotional
The High Cost of Getting Even

Ephesians 4:31, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” Golden Minutes Ministries relates how Dale Carnegie once observed that the only animal the grizzly would allow to eat with him was the skunk. Grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park often come to eat at the place where garbage is dumped. This huge bear can fight and beat almost any animal in the West, but it lets the skunk share its meal. Carnegie said that the grizzly surely resented the skunk and could have easily killed the little creature in any fight. No doubt the bear would have liked to have gotten even with him for his intrusion. But he didn’t. Why? Because he knew the high cost of getting even. Most animals are not dumb. They are much smarter than many humans who allow their stomachs to churn all day, their minds to storm all night and their souls to turn black with hatred as they plot revenge. Bitterness is the most dangerous of all plagues to healthy Christian living. It will eat away at the vitality of your spiritual life until your once vibrant testimony is in shambles. It is the “cancer of the soul” and it claims millions of victims each year. It spreads faster than the common cold and threatens the survival of many churches. Yet there is a cure for this plague. One of the most beautiful words in any language is the word “forgive.” The word is a common one, but the essence of the word is in the last part—“give.” To “for-give” means to give someone a release from the wrong that he has done to you. It means to give up any right of retaliation. Revenge is a horrible taskmaster. The grizzly bear knows it and so should we. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He looked at those who were responsible for His crucifixion and prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know no what they do.” He “for-gave”—He abdicated His right to retaliate and chose instead to forgive. You and I have that same choice. We can live in bitterness and unforgiveness over past wrongs others have committed or we can free ourselves by releasing them through the power of forgiveness, for this and each new day.