“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18
God pays back evildoers, so thoughts of personal “revenge” are prohibited. Perhaps vengeance belongs to God only because human vengeance often is carried out too zealously, whereas God’s vengeance is entirely just.
“Bear a grudge” means actively keeping a grudge alive with an eye toward vengeance.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is a command Jesus identified as one of only two commandments that, if kept, would fulfill all of the Law.
God wants His holiness reflected in the lives of His people … both the Israelite community and believers today. Martin Luther addressed it this way, “But you may say: Oh, it is utterly impossible for a person to keep this commandment. Yes, it is impossible for you to keep or perform it. You cannot do it; God must do it in you, for Him it is possible”.
God’s blessings on your day…