I learned as a young Christian that it is not my job to deal out punishment to those who harm me or even attempt to harm me. In the fifth chapter of Matthew and the sixth chapter of Luke Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile for them. When we attack others it is revenge – not justice. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will simply produce a generation of toothless, blind folks. Jesus practiced what he preached from the cross when he asked his heavenly Father to forgive those who were crucifying him instead of asking that each of them be crucified too.
Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that you don’t fight hate with hate, because only love can defeat hate; only kindness can defeat hatefulness; and only good can and will defeat evil.
As Christians, we are engaged in spiritual warfare, but our enemies are not other people. As a retired pest control trainer I love this analogy. If you put 100 black ants and 100 red ants in a large jar, nothing will happen. If the jar is shaken violently, The black ants will think the red ants are their enemy and the red ants will think the black ants are their enemy and they will attack and kill each other. The real enemy is the one who shook the jar. Satan loves to shake up this world and get us to attack each other.
I read this to Cathie and shesaid this touched her and she is in agreement with you. Well done.