Have you ever been wronged by someone and felt an overwhelming desire to get even? The urge for revenge is a powerful and deeply ingrained human instinct that has been shaped by our evolutionary history. In this article, we'll explore the psychology of revenge, its short-term and long-term effects, and how we can break free from the cycle of retaliation.
Great article.. I take comfort from the Old Testament teaching... "It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
This is good stuff, wisdom. I recall the first time I started to understand the multifaceted wisdom of forgiveness. It was when I heard someone say that forgiveness is giving up hope for a better past. Cheers, friend.
Anecdote: A friend Sam B who was tortured in prison suffered huge mental anguish that had wrecked his life. If you want to make a dog vicious you beat it every day. For whatever reason (he's not at all religious) he went to one of those tent show revival preachers, Theo Wolmarans, who invited anyone in pain to talk to him after the meeting. For whatever reason Sam did so.
Theo sat patiently for over an hour while Sam told his story. Sam was incoherent and broke down frequently. Then Theo asked him to tell the story again.
And again.
Over many weeks Theo listened while Sam talked. Again and again, the same story, over and over. From a couple of hours the time came down to ten minutes and Sam was getting it word perfect.
The point came when Sam went to Theo and said, "I'm sick and tired of this. I don't want to anymore."
He'd talked out his trauma until it became something that had happened to someone else. Not fully cured, no, but he stopped taking it out on family and the bottle.
I suggest that this is a valid method of therapy. Theo was a fake and a fraud and the believers who threw away their wheelchairs and spectacles wished that they hadn't ten minutes later. But in this particular instance he never asked Sam, who couldn't afford it anyway, for money. He never preached to Sam about God and religion. Theo you did good.
At the same time, wrongdoers deserve to be punished. I don't suggest becoming a monster yourself and wreaking physical retribution. But a phone call to the IRS, even if it doesn't heal your hurt, reminds you that you are someone who doesn't take it lying down.
I kid. This is a good piece and it lays it all out clearly and concisely with proof. Good stuff. I do though never tire of seeing Christian moral teaching once again proven by science. God is amazing like that.
Great article.. I take comfort from the Old Testament teaching... "It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
This is good stuff, wisdom. I recall the first time I started to understand the multifaceted wisdom of forgiveness. It was when I heard someone say that forgiveness is giving up hope for a better past. Cheers, friend.
“Why you shouldn’t be getting revenge” Be. You forgot the be.
Signed, your friendly neighborhood grammar nazi
Anecdote: A friend Sam B who was tortured in prison suffered huge mental anguish that had wrecked his life. If you want to make a dog vicious you beat it every day. For whatever reason (he's not at all religious) he went to one of those tent show revival preachers, Theo Wolmarans, who invited anyone in pain to talk to him after the meeting. For whatever reason Sam did so.
Theo sat patiently for over an hour while Sam told his story. Sam was incoherent and broke down frequently. Then Theo asked him to tell the story again.
And again.
Over many weeks Theo listened while Sam talked. Again and again, the same story, over and over. From a couple of hours the time came down to ten minutes and Sam was getting it word perfect.
The point came when Sam went to Theo and said, "I'm sick and tired of this. I don't want to anymore."
He'd talked out his trauma until it became something that had happened to someone else. Not fully cured, no, but he stopped taking it out on family and the bottle.
I suggest that this is a valid method of therapy. Theo was a fake and a fraud and the believers who threw away their wheelchairs and spectacles wished that they hadn't ten minutes later. But in this particular instance he never asked Sam, who couldn't afford it anyway, for money. He never preached to Sam about God and religion. Theo you did good.
At the same time, wrongdoers deserve to be punished. I don't suggest becoming a monster yourself and wreaking physical retribution. But a phone call to the IRS, even if it doesn't heal your hurt, reminds you that you are someone who doesn't take it lying down.
Ed Latimore: closet Christian.
I kid. This is a good piece and it lays it all out clearly and concisely with proof. Good stuff. I do though never tire of seeing Christian moral teaching once again proven by science. God is amazing like that.