“Don’t try to get even. Trust the Lord, and He will help you.“ (Proverbs 20:22)
Have you ever experienced wanting to get even with someone who has done you wrong? What did you feel? I bet we can all agree that we feel hatred towards that person. Yung pakiramdam na gustong-gusto mong saktan iyong taong nanakit sa iyo. I’m sure we have been there at one point in our life. When dealing with people we hate, I realized that the best way to deal with them is to try to change them positively with the power of God and with the power of our own love. Turn them into people you could love by changing your mind about them. This is easier said than done lalo na kung alam natin na ang mga character ng mga taong ito ay hindi naman talaga likeable but, why don’t we change our mind about them and find things that we could like about them? Huwag puro negative ang tinitingnan natin sa isang tao. We should learn to see the positive side of them as well because wala naman talaga pinanganak na tao na masama. But how can we do this?
Start by doing something good to them . Break the cycle of hatred. Huwag natin gantihan ang masama ng isa pang kasamaan dahil gagantihan ka nya uli ng masama and we will never get out of this cycle.
Forgive. Who are we not to forgive someone who wronged us? Ang Diyos ay nagpapatawad, kaya as a Christian, we should extend our forgiveness to others. Walang buts at walang ifs. We have seen and heard a lot of stories in TV and in social media that daughters are suing their mothers; or sons fighting their fathers and even clans fighting each other which was brought by many generations of hatred. Why can they not break the cycle of hatred? Here is when we see that forgiveness can be a difficult thing to extend. Mas mainam na mangibabaw ang humility sa ating puso. When we do all these things, we begin to like them more and further. The Lord even prescribed to do something good to people who did terrible things to us. There is a greater probability that these people will change and if these people will not be moved by our good things, we still benefit because we are the ones who will be transformed. Magsisimula tayong magkaroon ng sympathy, ng amor, ng emphaty hanggang mamahalin na natin ang kaaway natin.
I was there too in that situation. I used to keep grudges in my heart and l was also one of the unforgiving people you could have met. Little did I know that it’s becoming a poison. I used to be defensive and would choose isolation over being hurt. But by the grace of God, I was able to forgive myself and those people who hurt me the most. The world is already full of hatred. Kali-kaliwa ang digmaan, ang karahasan, ang diskriminasyon at tayo ay nasa panahon pa ng pandemya. What the world needs now is to break the cycle of hatred and uphold kindness, love, and extend understanding to each and everyone. As a Christian, we should be the light and the salt of this world. We should exemplify in forgiving others because we too are forgiven for our sins.
Challenge: Do you have someone in your heart that you cannot forgive and want to seek revenge? What are the reasons why you still hold grudge to this person? I pray that the Lord may fill our hearts with peace and may His iridescent light shine upon us to help us find compassion that comes with true forgiveness.
