So there’s a song by Pink and Eminem that I love called “Revenge.” It’s edgy. There are some ‘bad language words’ in it. And it tells the story of a couple of people wanting to take revenge on their cheating partners. It’s crass and toungue-in-cheek and I find it darkly amusing.

Who hasn’t had a moment when they wanted to get revenge on someone who has done them wrong?

It’s a very human reaction. And therein lies the problem: it’s a very HUMAN reaction.

Jesus calls us to a super-human way of life. A way of life that rises above revenge. As one of my colleagues posted this on facebook today, I was reminded that we are called to a better way:

This may not be easy – but I do believe it is a more excellent, more fulfilling, more freeing way of life.

And we know this – anyone who has had revenge fantasies, knows that it can become a consuming obsession. Something you find yourself returning to thinking about whenever you have a moment of what-should-be peace (but isn’t because you’re thinking of revenge).

Let us, instead, follow the “more excellent way,” as Paul puts it:

Until tomorrow, dear friends, let us focus on the patient, kind, forbearance of love – just as Jesus did.